New XMen Academy X: The Slingers
by Stone-Man85
Summary: An Old Advisor, Six New Mutants, a New Squad. From teenagers with problems controlling their powers, they will grow to become heroes, and more importantly, a family. X23OC
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, or New X-Men, but the original characters I made up myself. **

**Also in this story, the events of House of M and Decimation didn't happen. All the students, all 128 of them, still have their powers. **

* * *

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers **

* * *

**Prologue **

* * *

_Mutation…_

_It is the key to our evolution…_

_It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet._

_This process is slow; normally taking thousands and thousands of years…_

…_but every few hundred millennia…_

…_Evolution has the tendency to leap forward._

_Mutants,_ _or Homo-Superior to some…_

_Since the dawn of their discover, Mutants have been regarded with fear, suspicion, and mostly often hatred._

_The question still debates…are they the next link in the Evolutionary chain…or are they simply a new species of humanity, fighting or searching for their place in the world._

…_though it is vastly argued, there is one thing that is true: sharing the world has never been mankind's defining attribute._

_Charles Xavier,_

_Founder of the Xavier_ _School_ _for the Gifted Youngsters._

_And founder of the X-Men. _

* * *

**5 Years Ago**

**Unknown Location**

**Night**

**12:05 PM**

* * *

It was unclear as to where the place was, though it was located in a forest area in the mountains. The weather was clearly snowfall as the landscape was halfway in snow. But then, standing tall and proud like an arrogant man was a military facility of unknown allegiance. Its silhouette, an ominous feel to it to anyone who would enter it, if they ever dare to go in it. The facility looked abandoned, but then, sirens suddenly went off. 

Men scurried around the base, dressed in military black OPS suits. Military vehicles were going all around the place, securing any exit that wasn't barricaded or even tightly secured. The military soldiers ran around, and secured their weapons at the ready. Then a speaker went off, with a voice, shouting, 'ATTENTION ALL PERSONEL! MX-113 HAS ESCAPED! I REPEAT! MX-113 HAS ESCAPED CONFINMENT AND IS LOOSE ON THE PREMISES!' The soldiers were all armed and ready; with the firepower they were packing, mainly Hulk Buster weapons, nothing could stop them.

Then suddenly, a huge explosion erupted from the front center of the facility, and then another followed in violent eruptions of fire and heat. The soldiers didn't even stand a chance as the fire spread on its own, somehow moving like a living thing. Massive fiery explosions erupted from the ground like volcanoes, destroying everything from above. The men ran around like chickens without their heads, but to no avail as more explosions erupted, resulting in most of their deaths. However, there were some helicopters escaping as most of the flames shot out of the buildings.

From far away, the building looked like a raging inferno; it was perfect enough for at least one escape attempt. A strange figure in a white bed sheet made cloak was running out of the area, and on a snowy hill a few miles away from it. The figure seemed small, around the height of an eleven year old child, and breathing very heavily as almost seemed exhausted. However, it did seem to prove the cloaked figure was exhausted; in a last movement, the escapee collapsed in the snow.

The Military base burned in the night as the figure lay unconscious in the snow, with a blizzard blowing in.

* * *

**Next Morning **

* * *

The area was snowed in over night, and the blizzard was just getting worse as the hours went by. However, some people were up and about, knowing full well that during some blizzards, wolves would be up and about. Two hunters were up and about with their hunting dogs, looking for a good trophy or a good meat buffet. The first one with a big bushy beard was looking around for anything that could be of some hint of a trail. But he shouted to his friend, who was in his forties, stubble-faced, and pretty trigger happy about it. 

"It's no use!", the bearded one shouted, "Even if something's out here, they wouldn't survive the cold!" Then suddenly, the dogs started barking madly in the direction of East. The second hunter with the stubble then turned to his friend, and asked smugly, "Oh, yeah, then what's got the dogs all in a riot?"

They wasted no time as they ran towards the direction to where the dogs barked as they followed them. It was nearly five minutes as they reached it, and what they saw was something out of sheer awe. The military base from the secluded area, lay in nothing but smoldering ruins, still smoking hot from last night's little fireworks display. The bearded hunter asked, "What in the holy name of God did this?" His friend shrugged, equally confused by this, "You're asking me? I don't even know what this is."

It was then that their attention was driven back to the dogs as they barked. They trailed on over to see their hounds barking at a small hill of snow, but it was then that they noticed a hand poking out of it. Thinking it could have been a survivor or some lost hiker, they started digging the snow over as they finally saw the cloaked figure. It was then that the bearded fellow lifted him up, and pulled back the hood of the makeshift cloak. The hunter was stunned as he and his friend saw the stranger revealed.

It was a male Caucasian boy, around the age of eleven, skinny but healthy enough to be on an athletic team. He also had fire red hair that was short, military cut style. From what the boy was wearing, it looked like some kind of Black OPS assassin outfit. The first hunter said out loud stunned, "He's…just a kid. No older than my daughter." The second hunter then asked, "Who is he?"

It was then that the first hunter caught a glimpse at something around the boy's neck. He pulled it up and realizing it was a dog tag. The number code indicated as followed:

MX 011488-113

Zachary Walker

Wildfire

The second hunter looked a little confused by this as he asked, "Wildfire? What the heck does that mean?" it was then that the young boy's eyes opened up, revealing them to be a color of brown. It was then that before the first hunter took notice of it, the boy open palmed the guy in the face, knocking him out. He then back flipped over away from the other hunter as the dogs barked loudly. The second one, noticing his buddy unconscious, brought up his gun as she shouted; "Now…y-you just stay…!" But before he could do anything, the boy had run up to him, but scooped up the first hunter's rifle. And before the guy could pull the trigger, was knocked out by his friend's gun as the boy smacked the rifle across his head like a club.

The boy looked down at the two unconscious hunters, not knowing if to kill them or not. But then, the dogs growled at him, about to attack and gnaw at the one who attacked their owners. The boy just looked at them and brought up his right hand. Then suddenly, his eyes glowed yellow and in his hand, formed a ball of fire. He then shot it at the dogs, as it exploded, causing the dogs to get pushed back.

As soon as they got up, they saw the boy's eyes started glowing with a flame like color and his hands started to glow with a firey energy. The dogs whimpered at this and despite their masters, left with their tail between their legs…so to speak. The boy's eyes stopped glowing and the fire on the boy's hands died out, leaving not a burn mark or soot mark traceable. The boy then looked at the two knocked out hunters and walked over to them. A little while later, he had taken a coat and hat from both of them, but not before leaving them near an open fire to stay warm at.

He looked at them and said in a low tone, "I'm sorry, but I can't have anyone know about me." And with that, he walked off into the snowy blizzard, disappearing into the white…like a puff of smoke.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** **Little Girl Lost; Family Found**


	2. Little Girl Lost

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Little Girl Lost; Family Found **

* * *

**Five Years Later…**

**Manhattan, NY**

**Night **

* * *

It was raining on this one night in the city of New York; the streets were empty, save for a few cars driving by the wet streets. The city looking like a dark ruin in the rain as some lights were off on most of the buildings. The rain was pouring hard that night, thunder crackling in the sky, as if it was roaring like an animal. The night was as wet as ever as no one would dare to be out on the streets at night.

However, there was someone about, trying to run as fast as they could. This was happening near the streets that were close to Hell's Kitchen as a figure was running and getting soaked in the rain. She was a girl of sixteen years of age; she was slender but athletically built, with snow white skin, with long raven black hair that went down to the middle of the back. She was wearing a black choker with a little gold pendant sewn onto it, a black leather and belted mini-skirt, a black laced tank top with a black see-through mesh shirt, black stockings with holes in them, a leather jacket with belts on the shoulders, and black combat boots ran in the powerful downpour. She also hauled with her a black duffel bag as she lugged it with her.

It wasn't clear as to what she was running from, or where her destination was to get to. However, she knew one thing and one thing only: she had to get away from the people that made her do things she didn't want to do. She couldn't take it anymore; the black limos, the hotel rooms, everything she was imprisoned after she escaped the first prison that forced her to kill.

She had come to New York for one thing and one thing only: to find the only family she had left.

* * *

**HK's Bar **

* * *

While the girl was running, inside here, another face was brooding. The bar was full of shady but drunken folk; some trying to escape the problems of their lives, or just hanging out for the night. The bar had everything; darts, bar with many beers and liquor, girls just wanting to have a good time, TV's showing various things, and pool tables. Right now though, there was only one occupant at them.

Standing near one of the pool tables, with a pool stick in hand, and playing a game of one, was one of the city's mutant heroes, who the people affectionately called the X-Men. He was a man around in his mid thirties or forties, built muscular but slim for a man his age, short but medium long black hair sticking up in an animal like way, making him look like a wolf in some way, with a pair of piercing brown eyes like those of a wild animal. He was dressed in skin tight black T-shirt, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and had a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up at the elbows resting at a chair near him.

He was known in the X-Men as Logan, AKA Wolverine, the loner of the team. He usually spent most of his time in any place that sold a good beer or two; didn't matter on how much he had, his uncharted healing factor made him immune to liquor poisoning. He could pretty much even recover from a hangover if the healing factor wanted to. Right now he wasn't interested in any beer, just in the game he was playing.

For now, he was just winning it by himself; in retrospect he wouldn't mind a little brawl. Anything that involved cracking some skulls would be something to do at least to rid himself of this boredom. He then shot the red ball into a diamond formation that sent four balls into the four ball pockets…and then by a stroke of luck, the Eight Ball in the middle ball pocket.

After that, he just huffed, "Another win.", he then put the pool stick back with the others on the stand. He then went for his jacket as he put it back on and walked out. As he paid for his bill he just grumbled as he started to head for the door, "What I'd give for just one brawl…"

* * *

**Meanwhile **

* * *

The girl was still running as she saw behind her that she was being chased after all. They were a couple of thugs, around fifteen to be precise, dressed like a bunch of street punks, with dangerous weapons in holsters. She knew who they were from; from the same man who gave her _that_ job. The man had taken her in after she had arrived to New York, and then gave her clothing, a place to stay, and everything. Then one day she had been told she had to 'earn' her keep.

She was shown to the other women he 'looked' after, and soon they showed her how they 'earned' their living. After a while now and after she had escaped when she had killed the man who was her _employer_, she didn't want to do that anymore, she felt it was just wrong, and although she had done much worse things in her past, things she wanted to forget and tried to forget her past. It was full of pain, suffering…and blood…So much blood and death. Even the death of…of…of…

She shook her head of that; it was all in the past, and she had to find the only one who was the last bit of family to her now. She wasn't even aware of where she was running from as she ran past a bar with a guy coming out of it. Logan was walking out, about to head for his bike, when suddenly this girl ran past him. He merely just shrugged at it, not planning to make a big deal out of it, until he saw the goon squad go after her. Logan knew what that meant as he took a whiff in the air, and grumbled, "Trouble.

The girl finally ran down an alley and came to a dead end brick wall. From the looks of it, the alley way was filled with garbage and other assortments that gave off a lot of horrid smells. The very scents assaulted her sense of smell, but despite all that and the tremendous rain coming down, she heard and smelt the men that she thought she had lost come toward her.

She turned around pretty quickly and then pulled back the right side of her hair out of her eye. She then stared at them as they came walking at her, with murderous intent in their eyes…the same look she had when she killed the man who forced her into his _business_. One gangster, Caucasian, bulky, and dressed like a street pirate, growled, "There she is."

Another one, black with shades over his eyes, and dressed in a tank top and jeans with boots, cackled, "Yeah, she tore through Zebra Daddy like he was tissue paper.", and pulled out a switch blade, "And now thanks to her, we're out of a job." Another guy, Caucasian, corpulent, and dressed in black, pulled out a pair of brass knuckles as he sneered at her, "Now we're gonna teach you a lesson about back stabbin' the boss, Honey." The crooks were getting closer to her as Shades commented, "So we'll teach you just how dangerous these streets really are, Sweet Thing."

She stepped back a bit; she knew what these men had in mind and she didn't like it at all. However, if she had to, she would show them that she wasn't as helpless as she looked. If she had to, they would find out…the hard way.

"Those hands of yours…"

The thugs looked behind them, as the girl looked forward to see someone else step in. The girl recognized him as the man that she ran past after she had past that bar in Hell's Kitchen. Logan had followed them quietly as he saw the group of guys chase after this kid. He had seen some nasty things in his days: Mutant terrorists, the Phalanx, and psycho robots, but it always seemed to amaze him just how low some people were in this city.

He then started to walk forward as he growled at them, "If you don't back off the kid, I'll relocate them…" the pirate thug shouted, "Who the hell-?", but before he could ask, Logan cut him off, "I said, if you don't back off the kid, I'm gonna relocate your hands…", and then he brought up his fists as three metal claws came out of both hands, by everyone's surprise, "…in jars, on my dresser."

One of the thugs gasped, "Crap, he's one of them Muties!" The black one snarled, "I didn't know these things came in packs." The girl, however, looked at Logan with her mouth open and her eyes all bug eyed. After three years of searching, of trying in futile efforts in San Francisco and in Canada, she had finally found him. However, before she and he could talk, the thugs were still a big problem to take care of first.

Logan then charged with his claws at the pirate looking thug, but faked the stab as he just sliced the weapon in his hand in half. Then resheathed the claw and punched him, knocking him out due to the fact that Logan's bones were laced with the element Adamantium. Two other thugs charged at him, so he unsheathed his claws once more and snagged them both by the back collar of their shirts as they passed him, and threw them over him in mid air. And then slammed them face first into the ground.

The girl just stood there, in complete amazement by this, but then shook out of it. The man in black ran towards her shouting, "Let's hear you scream, Little…!" But before he could finish and kill her, she side blocked him and spun around to get in behind him, and jump kicked him behind his head. Another one of the goons charged at her, but then she caught his arm, allowing his motion to spin him back towards the others, and that led him face first into Logan's fist.

Suddenly, one of the other thugs came at her, and this time, she barely dodged a knife he slashed at her. She winced as she felt the sting of the cut that the knife gave her on her right arm. The thug, who looked like a pimp, sneered and chuckled, "Ha, not so tough are ya, Honey?" However, he paled as he saw her snarl and growl at him. He was about to stab her again, but this time, she caught him by his wrist and sharply twisted it. The thug screamed in excruciating pain as he felt the bone break and the ligaments tear permanently. After he was grasping his arm in pain, she kneed him straight in his 'Jewels', causing him to kneel down in pain. She then slammed her fist into his face, causing his nose to break and to pass out with blood trickling down his face.

Logan had finished off his half of the thugs, and saw the girl finish off her half. He was starting to have serious doubts about saving this girl if he knew that she could handle her own. He just thought as she disposed of the last thug, 'Just who the hell is she?' it was then that he noticed something behind her; a leftover thug had gotten up and pulled out a big Buoy Knife as he was about to slice her up.

Going wide eyed, he shouted to her, "Kid, look out!" Unfazed at all by the shout, she knew what was coming because she smelled and heard it coming, as she turned around with a scowling glare in her face. What happened next, surprised Logan immensely as he saw how she handled it. She balled up her fists, and out came of all things, two metal claws out of both hands. She used her left set to slice the guy vertically lightly, but kicked him harshly against the wall.

The thug whimpered at this as he grasped his face, but then the girl roared out, as she ran forward to impale her right set into him. "NO!", Logan shouted as he had made it in the nick of time and grabbed her wrist, stopping her just only an inch away from the thug's face; the experience had drained all remaining color from him, and he slumped to the ground, subconsciously wetting himself.

The girl was a little surprised by this kind of act from the one person she sought. When she looked into the man's eyes, she saw within them her reflection…the reflection of a wild animal. The same animal that had killed her sensei; at that memory, she was almost close to tears. But then Logan said, "Look, Kid, I don't know what they did to ya. But trust me, killin' them ain't gonna solve this."

He then lowered her hand back down while he still held on to her by the wrist, "You don't have to kill them. You don't have to kill. Period.", he said in a gruff yet gentle tone. The girl heard the gentleness in his voice and reminded her of…the dark haired woman…the woman in the snow…crying.

It was then that a few tears started to stream down her eyes, as her claws finally sheathed back into her hands. Then suddenly, surprising Logan, she ran into his arms and cried her eyes out. Logan, equally surprised by this, asked, "Uh…you okay, kid?" she didn't answer as she buried her face in his shirt; she had expected to find the last remaining bit of her family, but she didn't know he would be as caring as the dark haired woman or her sensei.

The dark times of her childhood in the Facility, she had been told to kill and here she had found him. Someone that, for the first time in the past fifteen years, was telling her she didn't have to. She finally looked up at the man that her mother had once referred to as Weapon X, her 'brother', and just nodded, "I am now."

But now she knew she couldn't stay; she now found him but didn't want to burden him with her presence. She looked up at him and bowed, saying, "Thank you." And then walked off down the alley, not sure of where to go in the rain, "Wait a minute."

She stopped not looking back, but a little surprised by him speaking out to her, "What?" He walked up to her and stopped as the two were only inches apart from each other. Logan then asked, "Those claws…and your arm," Logan hadn't forgotten nor turned a blind eye as he noticed how her arm was healed now as the rain has washed enough of the blood away for him to see the wound was closed and was healing, but unlike him, rather quickly. "Do you know of a project called Weapon X?"

She was a little surprised that she knew something like that. But she didn't know how to tell him the truth about it. she wasn't sure how he would react to…to what she would tell him, so she lied, "No…no I haven't." Logan could tell that this girl was lying; who else could give anyone besides him a set of claws made of Adamantium.

He then asked her, "Do you have a place to go? A home? Family, maybe?" He asked her softly, but still in a gruff tone, while walking next to her.

He knew that she had to be connected to Weapon X in some way; how many people in the world had metal claws and healing factors, or could recreate that as well. She had to have a link to it…and to his past. And in some way, to this girl, he felt liked he owed her one, "Look…", he sighed, probably not liking this mostly because he didn't think it would help much, "…maybe I can help. Me and a few friends of mine."

She looked at him not sure what to make of him; she had always expected him to be a loner…just like the files said he was. But now, however…this was just completely different from what the Facility had no him. They way he spoke and his actions had already shown her that he could be trusted. No one, aside from the dark haired woman, had ever helped her like that, and meant it.

"Why?" She asked him, slightly confused by this turn of events.

He shrugged as he scratched the back of his neck, "Well for one thing, you look like you need help, and that's what I do, as well as the people I work with. Plus, I don't like to see young girls out in the rain."

He knew that right then and there that he would have to head back to the Institute right now with this girl. He sighed as he stated, "Look…I know where you can dry off and rest, and it's a place that has people like us that can help you, that is…if you let them."

She looked at the man slightly confused, mainly because the same person she was told was once Weapon X, was giving her a choice a _real_ choice. She just wanted to walk away, knowing that he was alive and well, but she was tired, hungry, cold and wet. She didn't have anywhere else to go, or anyone else to turn to for that matter; she was alone and she didn't know what to do with her life now.

She had always done what others had ordered her, so when the man had told her to do the things that those people said, she did it. Just like how she was a child, back in the Facility, she did what the men she was bought for her services to told her to do.

But he was giving her a choice, and she didn't know what to do. There were two options, to trust him or not. She didn't know which so she just said the first thing that popped out of her mouth. "Okay."

The next thing she knew she was sitting behind the man she now knew as Logan on a motorcycle, and riding through the streets hanging onto him for dear life, but strangely there was a thrill to it all. They rode through the rain as it splashed on them as they sped towards the direction to Westchester, and then to Salem Center.

* * *

**Salem** **Center**

**Xavier Institute for the Gifted Youngsters **

* * *

The iron gates opened as Logan revved in there with his teenaged companion sitting behind him. When she peaked over his shoulder, she saw the mansion before them as they rode in.

It stood in the middle of a lush forest landscape in Salem Center, Winchester. The entire estate was vast but friendly to the young minds that went there. The school had everything; buildings for classes, an auditorium for outside and inside usage, glass house cafeteria, hedge maze, gym, and dormitories for both boys and girls. But the school was merely for the public…the lower levels were an entirely different story.

The lower levels were an underground base for the X-Men; a team of trained Mutant super heroes that protected humanity from those who would start a war between mutants and the rest of humanity. It had everything, emergency bunkers for shelter, hanger for the X-Men's famous mode of transportations, the X-Jet and the X-Velocity, Medical and Lab center, and their most important piece of equipment, the ultimate mutant detection system, Cerebra.

They rode into the opened garage that was near an obstacle course area. When they entered the garage, Logan then stopped between a Navy blue heavily armored van with six wheels instead of four, and a yellow and black Chevrolet Camaro. As soon as they parked, Logan hopped off, but then noticed the girl a little dizzy as her eyes were swirling aruond. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "First time riding a motorcycle?"

She nodded dizzily as she dismounted off the bike, getting her duffel bag, "Yeah…I only drove a car, not a bike before."

Logan smirked at that, and then signaled her towards the door, "Everyone's pretty much asleep, so you'll be sleeping in my room for the night." The girl nodded as she took her bag with her and followed after him, leaving the garage and the bike behind.

* * *

**Logan**'**s Dorm Room **

* * *

As soon as they entered it, the girl was a little surprised by the sight of it. It was kind of messy and a little unkempt, but not livable. A few papers were scattered across the floor; old newspapers that Logan felt the need to keep. A few beer bottles here and there, but the couch and bedroom seemed well kept. Logan cleared his throat as he turned to the girl, "It's not much to look at, but for now, it's the best I can do for ya under short notice."

She didn't mind as she stated, "It's better than where I've been." Logan nodded at that. She then stopped as she shivered a bit, seeing she was in wet clothing. Logan then walked over and got them both towels to dry off with. He then went to look in his closet for something for the girl.

He then looked at the young girl as she dried her long raven dark hair. "You have a name, Kid?" She didn't respond at first, so he sighed and then said, "The name's Logan; that's as much as I can remember."

She took a moment before speaking, "They called me X23…", but then she gave a small smile, "…but my mother named me Laura…", but then she frowned in sorrow, "…before she died."

Logan didn't want to press that dying mom thing a bit, seeing that it was very personal to her. However, the fact that her name was just Laura, well, Logan just looked at her confused, "It's…the only thing I've ever been called." She said a bit shyly. Logan just shrugged at that as he cleaned off the couch. "The bed's a little messy, so I'm afraid you'll be sleepin' on the couch."

She shook her head lightly, "I don't mind. I haven't slept on a bed before anyway."

Ignoring that last part, Logan then said, "Well you can stay here tonight, until the Head Masters can give you your own room." He then went to go find some blankets for the girl as well as something dry to wear, "So don't worry about sleeping in here for the night."

He then handed her an oversized T-shirt as he said, "That's also the best I can do for ya. Until I can find someone to go shoppin' with ya for some new clothes." She shook her head again, "It's okay." As soon as his back was turned, she stripped off her own top as his back was turned and went to unfasten her belt.

When Logan turned around, he was shocked at what she was doing, "KID!" He passed her the T-shirt and a towel, "Cover yourself up, will ya." She took it and covered her chest confused at his reaction, "I can't change here?"

"What?" Logan asked "Sheez, what did they teach ya when you started workin' for them?" Although by then, he had a pretty much good idea on what she had been doing and what she was taught. Given the way she was dressed and, despite his healing factor, it sickened his stomach to think someone as young as her was forced or taught to do things like that.

She put her shirt back on as she sadly said, "I…All people ever wanted from me was…", she said, starting to feel that she had done something wrong.

Logan sighed, feeling that the girl was gonna cry again. He walked over to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Look, Kid. You don't have to do that anymore. No one here's gonna force you into stuff like that anymore." Laura, or X23, looked at him with more tears in her eyes, and then by surprise on Logan's side, she drew herself to him into a hug. Logan was yet again a little taken back by this; but Laura remembered a long ago memory of a woman with long raven hair, similar green eyes, dressed in an electric pink shirt and jeans.

She would do this to give her a sense of peace and warmth inside her; it would show up by random moments in her life. Logan, however, was a little rigid at first; unsure about this whole hugging thing. But then something just clicked as he slowly patted the girl on the head; he somehow felt a somewhat big brotherly feeling towards the girl.

But then he broke up the hug as he stated, "You can change in the bathroom. It's clean in there and you can take a shower." She nodded, "Okay." She took the black T-shirt as she made her way to the bathroom. As soon as she closed the door, she locked the door, undressed, and turned on the water and walked in. As the hot water poured on her, she had to admit, it was very soothing. Much to what she was subjected to back at the Facility.

When she was done, she walked out of the bathroom, dressed in only the Black T-shirt and her clothes in her hands. Logan, while rummaging for something for the girl to eat, was thinking on some things. He figured with what little the girl had, aside from her duffel bag, She would need a few new things tomorrow, when she got enrolled into the Institute.

When he had found it, he had pulled out a still fresh pizza that he had brought over a while ago. Seeing it was late and knowing the cafeteria wasn't open until tomorrow, this would have to do. Then he thought that he would have to ask Emma if she could read Laura, or X23's mind to see if they could help her find her family. He then saw Laura walk behind him and ask, "What's that?"

He then handed her a plate of three slices of an All Meat Pizza special, "Your dinner. Well, dig in, Kid."

The young girl looked at the food for a second before digging in looking like she hadn't eaten in a long time. Logan just looked at her, wondering about who she was, and if she and he had some kind of connection in the past. Like she was a family member of somewhat…or if she was his daughter or something. He still had some things about his past that were still a little fuzzy to him, so there might have been the possibility that he might have had some form of family out there.

After he heard a large female belch, Logan looked over at seeing that she had just finished, "You _were_ hungry."

Laura, or X23, just shrugged. It may have been small, but it had been very good, in fact she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten so well. Even though to her he was the only family she had left, she still wasn't used to people doing things nice for her, for no reason or just being nice period.

"So…where do I sleep again?" She asked him a bit unsure, she was tired and wanted to sleep, normally after she had fulfilled her 'duties' as that man, Zebra Daddy, had said sometimes, she would sleep on the bed, but they didn't want her for that now. At least not anymore now that Zebra Daddy was dead, thanks to her.

"Well, like I said, you can have the couch; I'll get ya an extra pillow and blanket, 'Kay?" Logan asked her as he went to find them.

He then came back with the items in hand. Laura had found the couch and was given the items by Logan as she got a bit comfortable and clenched her jaw trying to hide the yawn. Logan saw this and half smirked, "Well goodnight uh…Laura." It was then that he decided to ask, "I don't suppose your mother gave you a last name."

She thought about it and shrugged, "No. She only named me Laura."

"Well you need a last name.", he said to her, "I can't just keep callin' ya Laura."

She just shrugged, she never thought about having a full name really, "Just call me Laura for now, okay?" She was tired and really wanted to sleep. She then lay down on the couch and pulled on the blanket.

Logan just somehow smirked at that, but then shook his head, "What the…?" He just ignored it as he walked to his bedroom. He then grumbled, "Stop it, Logan. Yer gettin' in too deep here."

* * *

**Later that Night **

* * *

It was later that night when Logan was fast asleep, that X23, or Laura, was stirring in her sleep. Her face and skin was dripping with sweat, and her face showed much fear and distress as she tossed and turned on the couch. The voices in her memories were causing her much grief. And the evil and cruel smirk of those that harmed her in the past; a man in his thirties with short red hair, piercing blue eyes, and a cruel smirk:

* * *

_Animal…_

_Can you feel pain, X23?_

_This is for my father…_

_You little Beast!_

_Goodbye, Weapon X _

* * *

Then there was that woman. She was the second worst compared to that man. That woman with brown eyes, and raven black hair; her handler:

* * *

_Hello, X23…_

_It was a nice escape, X. But I'm taking you back…_

_Come on, 23. A gun, your claws…it doesn't matter; you can never hurt or kill me._

And then the last flashback was the worst; a woman with raven black hair, and green eyes. She was lying on the ground, bleeding and dying…because of her:

* * *

_Laura…._

_You're name is Laura…not X23…_

_I love y… _

* * *

"MOTHER, NOOOO!", Laura yelled as she shot up from the couch, nearly screaming out and sitting up in a cold sweat. Logan was woken up by her screaming as he busted down his bedroom's door and he rushed in to help the girl. He flicked on the lights and saw Laura, sitting up on the couch with her legs drawn in and her head resting on the knees. He also saw that she was sweating, and was looking around frantically.

A little worried by this, he walked over and sat down next to her, and asked, "You okay, kid?"

She turned to face him and then she remembered where she was and what had happened. She had been in the middle of a nightmare; well it was actually a memory of her past but still a nightmare anyway. When she hopped up in the dark she had been scared and now she felt relief on seeing Logan. He was wearing an undershirt tank top and black sweat pants, for his usual bed attire. He slowly made his way to her and sat down and carefully wrapping her up in his arm. "Hey it's okay," he said gently to her.

He asked her, "You want to talk about it?" She just shook her head, she just wanted to forget it all, all the pain and suffering all the nightmares…All the killing and suffering, and the faces of those she had killed. She just wanted to forget it all. She had tears in her eyes and just turned to Logan.

Logan was a little surprised by the look on her face. His gut was hurting, because if there was one thing he couldn't handle, it was seeing a young woman cry.

To her, it had been sixteen long years since anyone, aside from her mother, had shown her the slightly kindness that he was giving her. Despite herself, what she was trained to become, she felt Logan slightly wrap his arm around her for comfort. After a little bit, he let go and asked, "You okay, now?", he pulled his hand away as she nodded a little weakly.

Logan then sighed as he got up, "Okay, well then we'd better go back to sleep." But before he could leave the room, the girl grabbed on to his hand, tightly. He turned to her and said, "Kid, not…." It was then that he noticed that the girl was slightly even more afraid as tears began to from again.

She looked up to him with a look of pleading, "Could you stay with me…?", her voice cracked, tears once again streaming down her face, "I'm scared…I don't want to be alone."

Logan sighed, trying to think on this. He knew that she would probably have nightmares all night long, and he knew what that was like having nightmares. He sat down next to her once again, as she wiped away her tears. They sat there, for what seemed like fifteen minutes, just sitting there. But the, the girl, Laura, leaned in towards Logan, resting next to him, surprising him almost. As she rested next to him, she felt his warm body and somehow, Laura felt safe for the first time in three years of running.

After that, she finally fell asleep; Logan saw this scene as she rested up next to him. He sighed, "If Kitty finds out about this, she'll never let me hear the end of this."

However, he also knew, in some strange way, that this girl had more than she was letting out on. Just before he let her back on the bike, he took a glimpse at a compartment in the duffel bag. In the pocket, he saw a picture of Prof. Xavier…and him.

It was still a big mystery: what was the connection she had to him, and the Weapon X program? Hopefully the answers would come tomorrow. But for now, he just sat there as she slept, watching her to ensure she didn't suffer anymore nightmares.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Secrets Revealed; a Home of Your Own**


	3. A Home for You

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Secrets Revealed; a Home of Your Own

* * *

****Xavier Institute**

**Morning

* * *

**

_So this is her, Logan? You didn't say she was cute._

_"Slipped my mind, Kitty", Logan said sarcastically.

* * *

_

Laura, or X23, was slowly waking up from the couch; as she got up, she felt something soft under her, and something warm around her. She looked around and found herself in an unfamiliar place and on a couch, sleeping. She then heard someone say, "Hey, so you're finally awake, eh?"

Laura went wide eyed as she heard the unfamiliar female voice. She shot right up, as she looked around her surroundings; she was still in Logan's room, but then, right in front of her, sitting on the coffee table, was someone knew she hadn't seen.

It was a woman, around in her twenties, slender but athletic, Caucasian, with short brown hair with two long bangs and a pair of friendly brown eyes. She was dressed in a navy black uniform, black tight spandex pants and long sleeved shirt that exposed her belly button; it had a yellow utility belt with the buckle having a red X on it, two yellow shoulder pads with red X's on them, yellow forearm guards, fingerless armored gloves, a yellow pouch strapped to her right thigh, and dark blue boots.

The dark suit reminded her of the Facility, as she sat up, yelping. She balled up her fists as the two claws on each hand popped out. The woman yelped back a little, and to Laura's surprise, she went through the coffee table and sat on the ground, still intangible with the table. The woman stated, "Sheesh, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Not amused by this, Laura stood up, still wearing the black T-shirt and pointed her claws at her, "Who are you? Where's Logan?"

"Right behind you, Kid.", Logan said, as he was right behind her at the couch, holding two trays of food. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Ya mind puttin' away your claws. Kitty, or Half-pint, here just wanted ta meet ya." Laura raised an eyebrow as she unsheathed her claws and looked at Kitty confused, "Kitty?" Kitty then pulled herself up from the coffee table and brushed herself off while answering, "Yeah, but it's short for Katherine."

She then looked at Laura for a little while, making Laura feel a little uneasy, so she asked, "Um, what is it?" and then Kitty said, "Logan talked about you, but he didn't mention how pretty you were." Laura, for some strange reason unknown to her, blushed a little from embarrassment by that compliment.

Logan just groaned as she handed her a tray of breakfast food, "Here, kid.", with only a little hesitation, she took it and started to eat some, "Make sure you finish up, Kid." He then turned to Kitty, who asked, "So…what did Scott say when you told him about her?"

Logan just huffed as he then said, "I just finished with him and Emma; both of them said to bring her over to the lower levels as soon as I could." Kitty nodded as she took a cup of coffee that Logan handed to her, "Well if you told them the same thing as you did me...", she looked at Laura who was still finishing up, "…I just hope we can help her out."

She then finished her cup and then looked at her mentor figure and asked, "So where do you think she got the claws?" She then looked to Logan and raised an eyebrow, "I mean…is she your kid?"

Logan nearly spat out his coffee as he snarled, "Oh, come on, Half-pint! Do you really expect me to remember that?" Kitty shrugged as she crossed her arms in thought, "I'm not sure, but if she is I'm still wondering about the metal claws. I mean, from what I remember, Adamantium claws aren't a mutation." Logan nodded and didn't like it either; considering he didn't remember his past; he still had fragments of remembering the procedure that he acquired his…attachments.

Kitty had also learned of the Weapon X program as well, and she too knew of the procedure; cutting the victim open and surgically graphing the metal to the bones. After hearing about it, that was something that no one could forget; then thought of this young girl going through with it, it just sickened her. And she knew that Logan was thinking the same thing; Logan just snarled in his thoughts, 'What kind of sadistic monster could do that to a child?'

After that, they heard Laura belch out loud, much to Kitty's and Logan's surprise. They turned to her as she wiped her mouth with a napkin and said, "I'm done."

It was then that Kitty commented out loud, "She's as nasty as you are, Logan."

* * *

**Later On

* * *

**

After the meal and a decent hot shower, Laura was walking around the school, along with Logan and Kitty Pryde. Kitty had noticed that Laura was wearing the same outfit that Logan told her she was wearing that night. She kind of wished that she had some spare clothing for her to wear.

While walking, Laura had asked Logan as to what Miss Pryde was to Logan. Logan, thinking she had the wrong idea about the two, simply put that he and Kitty had a Mentor/Pupil relationship, and to Kitty, he was like a big brother figure. Laura silently wondered what it was like, growing up with a big brother figure. She looked at Logan and smiled, but caught Logan's attention as he asked with an eyebrow raised, "What, kid?"

Realizing he saw her smile, she simply answered, "Nothing.", and turned away. Kitty saw that, and whispered to Logan, "I think she's developing a crush on you." Logan growled, "That's not funny."

As they walked through the vast and big mansion Institute, Laura looked around and saw children, thirteen to seventeen, either going to and from class, or just hanging out or having fun. Some anyone could see here were definitely mutants, and she heard a few of them call out to Logan and Kitty, calling them either 'Mr. Logan', or 'Ms. Pryde', or 'Miss Shadowcat'. From the looks of it, the two adult mutants she had known seemed to be well liked as teachers here.

As she looked through the place, she felt a little bit uncomfortable will all these teenaged mutants in one place. She was completely on edge with all the strange smells. But then she felt an odd sense of…of….acceptance. Here there were kids her age or younger than her that had abilities like her. And probably like her…they all wanted a feeling of acceptance and family from others, not to be feared for what they were.

* * *

**Head Masters Office

* * *

**

Laura was waiting outside of the office with Kitty, while Logan went in to talk to what appeared to be a Caucasian man in his thirties, dressed in a black uniform with a yellow utility belt and another going across his shoulder with an X symbol on the buckle. The man had short and tussled medium dark brown hair, and wore a strange visor with what appeared to be Ruby Quartz as the lens. Logan had told her that his name was Scott Summers, AKA, Cyclops, the first Head Master of the Institute.

The woman who stood next to him was a female Caucasian, around her thirties, long white blonde hair, and wearing a white pair of jeans with a white belt that had an X symbol on the buckle. With a pair of white high heel boots, and an X shaped tube top that showed off her cleavage, and a white cape to boot. She was Emma Frost, former AKA, White Queen, and co-Head Master to Scott, and the new love interest of Scott as well.

Even though she confessed her feelings of Scott to him, Logan had the impression that Emma really didn't like him that much anyway. Either because of his 'Lone Wolf' bit as he always took off, or the fact the she still couldn't get in his mind to see if he was hiding something. He shrugged about it and thought, 'Then again…it might be both.' He then told them about Laura…and her attachments. As they listened to the story and of her emotional state of whether the subject about her family came up, Emma was starting to feel really suspicious about this girl.

"So you really think she has some kind of link to you, Logan?" Scott asked him after hearing the entire story. Logan just shrugged as he sat and leaned his head on his hand. "Well she fights like me, heals like me, and has metal claws…kind of 'family' resemblance there.", he stated gruffly.

"And she's just waiting outside?" Emma asked him with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow at this. "You're sure she's stable?"

Logan just fixed her with a look after she asked that, "If I wasn't sure about her stability, I wouldn't trust her to be with Half-pint out there."

Emma was still unsure about the girl…so she decided to look into it, or rather her.

* * *

**Outside the Office

* * *

**

While outside, Laura, AKA X23, was sitting quietly taking in the place but she was strangely comforted by Miss Pryde's presence next to her. "So…I think you'll need some new clothing after this is settled." She awkwardly mentioned, catching Laura's attention at that, "I mean, from what I've seen, you've only got one pair of clothing and all. Plus I don't think Logan has anything that you could wear that fits."

Laura merely nodded her head as her only response; she did need new clothing and she was starting to really trust her now. Then she heard the door opened and out came Logan, Scott, and Emma. It was then that Emma walked to Laura and said, "Would you please stand up for a moment."

Feeling a little surprised, Laura was hesitant at it, but then Kitty said as she placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it. We're here for you, Laura." Feeling a little more relaxed she got up, as she and Emma were a little almost on eye level.

Emma then took a deep breath and said, "Seeing as how Rachel's out on a mission, I'm afraid I'll have to be the one to look into your memories." Laura went wide eye as she backed away a little. Emma saw that and simply said, "You don't have to be ashamed or be fearful about it.", Laura raised an eyebrow as Emma spoke on, "No one here will judge you."

Feeling a little uneasy about it, she decided to get it over with. She walked back to Emma, and stood only a few inches from her. Emma then lightly placed her hands on her head, and her forehead touched Laura's as she advised, "Just try and relax." Laura did so, but it wasn't easy.

It was when the two had closed their eyes, that Emma had then started to use her telepathic powers to scan the young girl's mind. She opened her eyes as they got that white glow. Then Emma got started as she went into Laura's mind to see what was in her memories…and the things she saw were horrible.

* * *

_She saw the memory of an elderly old Japanese man that taught the young girl how to fight. But then one day, she met him on her Graduation Day in the dojo and then the next thing she knew, she found herself over his dead body, with his blood on her hands. Emma saw as the young girl's eyes were filled with tears; trying to understand what had happened.

* * *

_

_She then saw a memory of her at the age of eleven, on an operating table. The girl was strapped on there, with nothing but a white cloth covering her body, but with her hands and feet held up by supports. Both her hands exposing a set of two bone claws, and both her feet exposing one bone claw that sprouted out between the big toe and second digit toe. All the claws were long enough for combat usage._

_She then saw a man dressed in a surgery outfit, with orange hair and piercing blue eyes. But what she saw in the eyes as a sewage pool of madness and cruelty directed towards the young girl. She heard the man sneer at the girl as he pulled out what appeared to be electronic pliers to hold the bone claws in place as he pulled out a bone saw to be used to shave down the bone to blade level._

_The man evilly sneered as he asked, "Painful? You don't know the meaning of the word, animal." He then began to smooth out the set of claws on her right hand, and then the girl screamed out in agonizing and traumatizing pain._

_Emma saw this in horror, realizing the girl was not on anesthesia. The only thing she could say was, "Monstrous…"_

_The man then said as he felt proud of causing her pain, "This is for my father…Weapon X."

* * *

_

_Emma trailed on through, searching for any memory at this girl's entire past. All she could find was death, killing, and assassinations. But all had one thing in common: the girl did it, but against her free will or good judgement.

* * *

_

Emma had finally ended the search, and she and Laura nearly fainted, if not for Kitty catching Laura, and Scott catching Emma. Laura felt a pair of hands gently place themselves on her shoulders, and saw Logan standing next to her and Kitty, who held her. Laura was on the verge of crying once more, "I…I'm sorry…" and then she passed out in Shadowcat's arms.

Logan raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You're sorry? For what?"

"For her past sins, Logan.", Emma said as she decided it would be best for everyone to know. She looked at the unconscious Laura and said in a whisper, "My god…you poor girl…" The images that she saw of the girl's past; the images of being raised in a facility, the training, the abuse, and the horrors were like echoes of so many teenager's that came to the institute, but nothing quite like this.

Scott then asked, "What did you see in there, Emma?" Emma lightly grabbed her head with one hand as she explained, "She…she was trained to kill and especially to kill Logan. To become the next Weapon X. She was trained to take him out as well as other assassinations: Royalty, Godfathers, Drug Lords, Dictators, Assassins…anyone or everyone…for the right price. They had her kill when she was only a child of ten, when they forced her mutation out through radiation poisoning. They forced her to do…" She couldn't go on as the images of her child's life and her own were overlapping in her mind.

Logan then asked, a little shocked by all of this, "So this kid…she was apart of that Project?" Emma muttered, "She didn't do it by choice. They forced her to do it, just as they forced their mother to volunteer for the conception and birth."

Everyone was a little confused by this, and appalled that a child was forced to kill, but then Scott made the suggestion, "If it's all the same for her, I'd like it if we could get to the bottom of this, and find out about her family." As if in agreement, Logan grunted, "Sure, we'll have Hank and Alleyne look at her."

* * *

**Sub-Base Level**

**Medical Lab

* * *

**

Laura, AKA X23, was asleep in an advanced form of laboratory. It was fitted with machines that were designed for medical usage, and for analyzing mutants; this was the Mutant Infirmary. Laura was asleep on a padded medical examination table in the infirmary as two individuals gave her a medical exam from a big blue furry fellow, heavily muscled, had hind legs with black claws on hands and feet, who looked part cat due to the fact he had big friendly yellow cat eyes, and dressed as a scientist as he had bifocals. This was Hank McCoy, AKA, Beast.

He was being helped by a black boy, around seventeen, with a short hair cut, brown eyes, and dressed in a blue sweat shirt and khaki pants, with brown shoes was helping him. His name was David Alleyne, a mutant with the telepathic ability to absorb and mimic the knowledge and skills from the minds of the people near him, but only temporarily, making him the perfect assistant for Hank.

The two geniuses examined the girl while the rest were outside. They were also with a very confused Scott as he asked a very confused Logan. "So you found her on the street with abilities close to yours, and you brought her here so she can get help, Logan?", Scott asked, "Doesn't sound like you."

"Look, Shades…I didn't know what to do…though if she is some kind of relative, then she definitely takes after some side of the family," He said. He then scratched his right sideburn, "As for why…I don't know exactly. I guess there's something about her I can't quite put."

Kitty, and surprisingly Emma, however were both worried about the girl. Kitty wasn't a psychic like Frost or Rachel, so her mind was racing with that same question: what could have happened to make her like this. Emma's mind was still swimming with confusion as she remembered that the only thing that this Laura girl could remember…was death and causing death…and suffering brought on to her.

After some time, they all heard a crashing sound and ran in to see Laura behind some equipment yelling at Hank and David, "Hank, Mr. Alleyne, what's going on?" Scott asked him.

"I have no idea, she just woke up from her sleep and she started to panic, and then she screamed out", David said as he dodged an IV stand being thrown at him like a spear. "I'm afraid she doesn't like the atmosphere of my lab." Hank told him, as he and David dodged a bedpan that was thrown, "Perhaps you can be of assistance?"

"Uh…sure…" Logan had no clue how to handle her; evil villains, sure, a classroom, that was a piece of cake…but a child trained as a killing machine, who was freaking out…that was a new one on him. "Hey kid, calm down; I'm here it's me, Logan. Remember?"

Laura then looked at him with a glare as she shouted, pointing at Hank, David, and Scott and Emma, "You said they would help me, but they just want to hurt me! Just like _they_ did!"

"What are you talking about?", Logan asked.

"Places like this only cause pain, they only give people pain! I would know!" She screamed at him as she pointed all around the lab.

Logan slowly made his way towards her, "They won't wanna hurt you; these guys are my friends, and places like this don't always give pain." He pointed to David and Hank calmly and friendly, "Hank and Alleyne there were just looking you over…to see if you're alright." She took a few steps back and unleashed her right set of claws.

She growled, "I'm fine!" Logan sighed, knowing this wasn't going to be easy, "Okay…look have I ever hurt you or lied to you so far?", he then pointed to Kitty, "Has she ever lied or hurt you at all?"

She took a moment to think that over as her breathing became calm. So far neither he nor anyone she had met in the Institute had done that to her.

Logan slowly got closer to her, "Look…you don't have to stay in this room, if you don't want to," He put out his hand for her to take it. He then said, "They just want to know about your powers and abilities. They wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

She looked at his hand, and she really wanted out of this room, but then she knew that all they wanted to do was to help her out. But in order for them to help, they had to know more about her. So she put her claws back in and slowly too his hand. Logan was about to keep his word and lead her out of the room, but then Laura stopped him as she said, "They can continue…as long as they don't hurt me."

David waved in protest, "Like Mr. Logan said, we're not going to hurt you."

After calming down, Hank led Laura to what appeared to be a CAT scan machine. He explained to her that it was an X-ray and DNA analyzer machine that would scan her for her X-gene and identify it.

Hank led her to it and said, "Just lie down and relax. The machine will do the rest." Laura was a little hesitant, but she did so as she lay down. Then the table part she laid on slid into the machine as it lit up. Hank and David just watched a second screen as the information came up.

* * *

**Later On

* * *

**

After the machine had finished scanning Laura, Hank had said that Laura could go, but Kitty left with her, saying that now was the best time for them to go clothes shopping. After a while, Hank was incredibly surprised at what he was looking at. He then stated, "Logan's not going to like this." David, a little surprised, asked, "Why?" It didn't take long for them to process it and they were both surprised by the results. Both of them got together with Scott, Emma, and, Logan in the main observatory, with a few X-rays of Laura's skeleton.

The X-rays showed her skeleton, but on her forearms they discovered on both sides two sets of two claws, and on her feet, a single claw in each foot. All of them coated in Adamantium. Logan had a lot of questions bubbling in his head about the girl Laura, but he wasn't prepared for what Hank or David had told him.

"She's my what?" Logan roared out.

"She's your clone," Hank repeated fixing his glasses on his blue and fuzzy animal like face, "That's how she survived the process of having the Adamantium grafted to her bone claws. Aside from having heightened senses, strength, stamina, agility and reflexes, she also has your regenerative healing factor." He then looked over something important as he stated one other tad bit of information, "However, seeing that the metal isn't laced to her entire skeleton, her healing factor surpasses yours, Logan." Then David added in, "But consequentially, without the Adamantium grafted to her skeleton, and without a muscular build, her body is more fragile."

Logan then shook his head, trying to take this whole thing in as he turned to them and snapped, "In case any of you haven't noticed, I'm a guy and she isn't. And also on a side note, she's got green eyes; mine are Dark Brown."

David then took this question as he explained, "Well technically she's you genetically altered clone, or in this case, your genetically cloned sister. But all she's missing is one Y chromosome, and that could have been an accident or somewhat of an alteration to her DNA code with how she was cloned." David then brought up the possibility that the Y chromosome could have been damaged and the DNA had to be rewritten as a female if it were ever possible to make a clone of Wolverine.

"Great…more clones," Logan threw his hands up in frustration. "First Jean, Magneto, Hell, even Frost here", Logan said, indicating the Stepford Cuckoos, "…so why not a student here! While we're at it, why not it be a clone of Apocolypse? That'll be somethin' to look forward to."

" Logan calm down." Scott said to him with authority, and then looked at the two of them. "Okay, so someone cloned Logan and decided to make the whole Weapon-X thing over again? This time, using a child?"

"Pretty much looks that way," Hank sighed and nodded his head.

"Then I guess she'll have to live here now," Emma spoke up, "After what I've seen in her memories, she needs supervision and training with her emotions. She's even worse then you, Logan when she blows up in anger." After hearing that comment, there was a low growl from Logan, but she ignored it.

Logan, however, nodded again and got up but felt a bit…disappointed? He wasn't sure why, maybe because the kid was growing on him or something but that was crazy. She wasn't some puppy that he found in the street; this was a kid. 'Hell, a teenager for crying out loud!', he shouted in his head. However, he did know one thing…he was the only thing close to a family that girl had. Maybe the closest thing to a family that he had as well.

* * *

**Shopping District

* * *

**

At the mall, Kitty had taken Laura to the clothing district to try and hunt down a set of clothing for her. When they had left, Laura had told Kitty that she had only one set of clothing she was able to pack in a duffel bag, and the other set, she was currently wearing. Kitty then declared that they would go to the nearest shopping district, and she wouldn't rest until she had gotten her not a closet set of clothes, but also stockings, socks, and underwear.

Laura was a little nervous at that about finding such a place, but then when they got to a place called a shopping mall, her nervousness went away, seeing that it would be quite simple. They were able to get her some work out underwear, socks and stockings, which surprisingly were all black, as Kitty had one bag while Laura had the other one. But when it came to getting clothes, well for Kitty's case, it was proving difficult.

Everywhere in the mall that they had gone, Laura had refused the style. JC Nickel, Mid Army, American Falcon; Kitty had tried every where, but Laura didn't like any of the clothing. Kitty was on the verge of having a conundrum if Laura didn't find a style that she liked.

Finally, Kitty just sighed, "Okay, Laura…where would you like to check out now?" Laura looked around to see if she could find a place that she liked to go next. So far they had tried every clothing store in the mall. But then something caught her eye as she pointed and asked, "What about that store?"

Kitty looked over to where she was pointing, and to her surprise, it was the last place she would expect. It was a quaint Gothic Punk clothing store called Spencer's Hotstreak. Kitty raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Um, are you sure?" Laura nodded approvingly and then grabbed Kitty by her free hand as she ran over to the store pulling Kitty with her. When they had gotten there, Laura grabbed anything that she liked which was about thirteen sets of outfits, and immediately ran to the changing room.

Kitty waited outside as Laura came out every time with a different outfit. Surprisingly, Kitty had to admit that the outfits may have been dark and/or punkish in some way, but Laura really looked great in every one of them. After they had bought every outfit she had tried on, they had bagged them up and were on their way out. Kitty was carrying the clothes while Laura was carrying the shoes, which some of them were combat boots.

Laura was now dressed in a leather mini-skirt that was laced on both sides, a leather spaghetti strapped shirt that exposed some of her midriff and had a laced zipper, a long sleeved leather jacket with belts on the elbows, black stockings, and sneaker sized combat boots, fingerless gloves with a leather wrist strap, and a belt with diamond shaped metal stitch-on's.

As they were on their way to the door, something broke loose around Laura's neck. It was the choker that she was wearing from yesterday. As she saw it on the ground, she frantically dropped everything and picked it up. Kitty noticed this as she turned around and saw Laura kneeling on the ground, holding the choker with care, as if she never wanted to let go of it.

Kitty walked over and put down the bags, and knelt beside her as she asked, "Laura? Are you okay?" She didn't say anything, but Kitty saw that the golden little golden pendant on it had opened up, revealing it to be some sort of locket. And in it, was a picture of a woman in her twenties or thirties, with medium long raven hair, Caucasian, and had the same beautiful green eyes as Laura had. Then Kitty went wide eyed with surprise as she asked, "Is she your mother?"

Laura nodded as she smiled warmly, "Yes…she is." Kitty smiled at the look on Laura's face as she commented, "She's beautiful, Laura." She then looked at her and asked, "Where is she now?" But then, she noticed Laura's smile dropped as she clasped the locket and closed it. Kitty, hitting herself in the head mentally; she should have known better than to bring up such a heart breaking subject.

She placed a reassuring hand on Laura's shoulder as Laura looked at her. She gave Laura a friendly smile, "I'm sorry about bringing such an awful memory…", and then said something that Laura would never forget, "…but at the Xavier Institute, you've got a new family, and we're not leaving you alone."

Laura smiled at that, but then was a little surprised at what Kitty said next, "And if you want, I could be your big sister." Laura then had a nervous smile on her face as she meekly said, "Eh…okay."

* * *

**Back at the Institute

* * *

**

The two girls had come back to the institute, with four bags worth of clothing. As they came in, they were welcomed by Scott, Emma, and Logan, who was still a little wary around Laura, learning that she was his 'cloned sister'. For Laura now, this was the moment of truth; the moment when she was told if she could stay or not.

Emma then came up to the girl and spoke to her, "Well then this may have been an interesting day so far," she then took a deep breath about what she was about to say, "…but I believe that you can learn a great deal here at the Institute X23. Or Laura, I believe your late mother had named you." She then said, "Here, you can learn to use your gifts in a positive way to help save lives instead of ending them, like they made you do in the Facility."

"But it's your choice if you want to stay or go, Laura." Scott said as he walked up next to Emma, "We can assign you a room for you to live in at the Girl's Dormitory.", Scott said.

X23 looked at the tall blond woman, Emma Frost, with the emotionless and yet almost arrogant face; she didn't like her just with one moment, even when she was inside her head. And she could tell, she didn't like her either, due to her past and the fact that she could take out a huge group of fighters without even tiring. And also that she could do it unwillingly under the influence of a certain chemical.

This Miss Frost was too much like a few of the people back at the lab; they, aside from _her_, were all cold to her and treated her like an animal. She walked up and moved closer to Logan a bit, and Logan noticed the look in her eyes as she looked at him. Forgetting she was a genetic 'clone' of him, he could see that she was scared in some way and wanted to help her out. Then Laura took a firm but gentle hold of his hand and squeezed it. Wolverine felt like she was trying to say something to him with the gesture, and then he finally knew what it was.

…She was saying: Don't let me leave; I don't want to be alone anymore.

After seeing her with those sad eyes filled with the fear of Rejection, he had a feeling he knew what she wanted and nodded his head and he simply said, "Look, Kid, it's your choice; no one's tellin' ya to leave." Laura then looked to everyone else, including Kitty, someone not related but felt more of a family member in her anyway.

She then looked back to Logan; her big brother and the only family member she had left in this world. She didn't want to lose either of that. But then she looked to Mister Summers and Miss Frost, and remembered about what they offered kids like her here…a place to belong, a place to call home. She didn't want to lose either the opportunity, or her only family…she didn't want to be alone again.

She nodded as she silently spoke up with a tear of joy dripping down her cheek, "I…I want to stay here."

Scott and Emma lightly smiled at the girl's choice, Kitty just smiled broadly at her decision, but Logan just crossed his arms and said, "Well, then it's settled, Kid…welcome to Academy X."

Feeling so happy for this, the only thing that Laura did at that moment, was run up to her brother Logan, and hugged him. Logan was a little startled by this turn of events, Scott and Emma couldn't help but smirk at this scene. Kitty, on the other hand, just smiled as she said in a loving tone to her mentor, "Awww, isn't that so sweet?"

Logan then grimaced at Kitty as he just grumbled at her, "Don't get any ideas, Half-pint."

* * *

**Next Chapter: New Advisor; Starting the Squad

* * *

**

**Added Bonus: Profile on Laura, AKA, X23**

* * *

**Name**: Laura Kinney

**Known Aliases**: X-23

**Codename**: (Can't spoil the surprise)

**Identity**: Secret

**Occupation**: Former Assassin; now Student

**Citizenship**: US Citizen

**Place of Birth**:

**Marital Status**: Single

**Known Relatives**: Logan, AKA Wolverine (genetic Brother); Sarah Kinney: Mother (deceased)

**Group Affiliation**: Weapon X, Xavier Institute/ Slingers Training Squad

**Education**: Currently in High School level classes

**History**: Seeking to create another Weapon X, Genetics expert Sarah Kinney was hired by Martin Sutter to create a clone of the first Weapon X. After twenty-two failed attempts, X23 was the only success they had. With Sarah being the only good candidate, she was impregnated, and nine months later, she gave birth to X23.

At the age of seven, Rice had X-23 subjected to radiation poisoning in order to activate her mutant gene. He brutally extracted her claws, coated them with adamantium, and re-inserted them into her body. Next, Rice created a chemical compound he called "trigger scent." Upon smelling it, X-23 was driven into a berserker rage. The test of this came when they put the trigger scent on a sword, which forced X-23 to kill her kindly teacher, who had been one of the few people to treat her like a human being.

When Rice assigned X-23 to eliminate Sutter and his family, X-23's humanity showed for the first time: she killed Sutter and his wife without hesitation, but she spared their son Henry (who was actually Rice's son from an extra-marital affair). Satisfied, Rice spirited her back to the facility, ordering her not to breathe a word of her mission. However, X-23 ultimately revealed to Sarah that Rice was responsible for the murders.

As a parting shot, Rice revealed to Sarah a chamber containing dozens of incubation pods: X-24 through X-50. Sarah prepared to leave the facility, and drafted a letter to her daughter. Before fleeing the facility with X-23, Kinney tasked her with one final mission; destroy the pods and kill Rice. She succeeded, killing everything that stood in her way.

However, Rice exposed Kinney to the trigger scent, allowing him to exact revenge on her from beyond the grave. The scent drove X-23 into a murderous frenzy that resulted in the death of her mother. As she lay dying, Kinney named X-23 Laura, and gave her the letter she had written, (as well as pictures of Xavier, Wolverine, and the Institute for Gifted Youngsters).

For the past three years, Laura had run into hiding from the survivng members of the Facility, the members of Weapon X. she then resurfaced in New York in search of the only family she had; Logan, AKA Wolverine. But she was taken in by a pimp named Zebra Daddy; she worked as a prostitute who specialized in cutting masochistic patrons. X-23 continued to cut herself with her own claws, was mostly mute, and proved unable to free herself from the grip of Zebra Daddy. Until one day, she had killed him, and fled from his vengful goons one rainy night.

Fate had brought her to Logan as he helped her beat up the remaining forces of Zebra Daddy. After a confused explanation from the labs at the Xavier Institute, Logan decided to allow her to stay, seeing she had nowhere else to go to. Now at the Institute, she is given help from Miss Frost to learn and control her emotions, and the Institute to teach her to use her gifts to save lives, not to destroy them.

**Age**: 16

**Sex**: Female

**Height**: 5'4"

**Weight**: 115 lbs.

**Hair**: Raven Black

**Eyes**: Green

**Likes**: Kittens, 'her Brother'

**Dislikes**: Killing

**Superhuman Powers**: Since X-23 is a female clone created from Wolverine's genetic material, her mutant powers are similar to his: Heightened strength, stamina, agility, reflexes and senses. And also a regenerative Healing Factor. The noted differences are the number of hand claws (she has two to Wolverine's three) and X-23's foot claws (which he lacks entirely). These claws were brutally extracted by Zander Rice, sharpened, coated with adamantium, and reinserted into her body.

X-23 escaped before the procedure to fuse her entire skeleton with adamantium could be performed. Consequently, she possesses an increased healing factor. However, even though her healing factor is potentially greater than Wolverine's, her body is more fragile because she lacks his muscular build and adamantium skeleton.

X-23 received intensive training in ranged weapons, explosives, and both armed and unarmed martial arts. Her skills are so advanced that sentinels would assess her as a _severe_ threat.

**Voted**: Most Quiet


	4. The New Advisor

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers**

* * *

**Chapter 3: New Advisor; Starting the Squad **

* * *

**Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters **

**Student's Dormitory **

* * *

After the school was rebuilt from the Magneto incident, they had construction of two primary dormitories. On the left side was the Boy's dorm, and on the right side was the Girl's Dorm. They were both connected to the main Institute building in case of emergencies, and like all the rooms and hallways of the Mansion, the dorm's also had 

Right now, everyone was getting up and starting the day, ready for a big weekend. Including those in the dorms, especially the Girl's dorm.

* * *

**Girl's Dormitory**

**Inside**

**Second Floor **

**Room 31 **

* * *

In a two bedded room designed to house two girls, one of the beds, which was littered with clothes and a towel, someone stirred awake as the alarm clock next to the bed went off. The figure in bed stirred in their bed as they tried to ignore the clock, not even remotely wanting to get up. The figure growled a little, giving off the distinction that the person was female. Then suddenly, a hand shot out at the clock, and out between the knuckles came out two metal claws long enough to slash through the clock, destroying it as the circuits shorted out. 

The claws then retracted back into the hand, and up came the girl feeling a little groggy and half asleep. She muttered incoherently at the device, "Stupid junk." She was a girl of sixteen years of age; she was slender but athletically built, with snow white skin, with long raven black hair that went down to the middle of the back.

When she opened her eyes, trying to get the sleepiness out of her eyes, she revealed that she had the most beautiful green eyes that anyone would ever see. She was currently wearing a black tank top that exposed her belly button and black panties, as she sat Indian style on her bed. She was Laura Kinney, AKA, X23, the female clone of Wolverine, and daughter to an unknown biological mother.

She looked around her new surroundings, still adjusting to the fact she was now living in the Institute's dorms. It was only after two weeks ago that she decided to live here, in order to adjust to life of the Institute. Here she would learn about and control her emotions better, and to learn to use her gifts and 'attachments' in a positive use for others.

Her room was filled primarily with just essential furniture, a desk, rolling padded chair, bean bag chair, a computer, lamp, but nothing of personal interest. However, on the desk, were photos of people that meant something to her, but so far there were only two pictures present. it started from left to right; a photo of Logan, her somewhat 'brother', the next picture was that of her together with Logan and Kitty; the photograph was taken by a student of Logan's named Josh Foley.

This was actually the first picture of her shown her smiling; not a fake smile like she was trained by those who wanted her to become the ultimate assassin, but a genuine smile…a smile that was shown when around family; those you care about. She still couldn't believe that she was part of a family, and a real big one at that. She didn't think she could ever feel this kind of joy…after….She shook her head, trying to forget that memory; she didn't want to remember what had happened, three years ago…in the snow, with her hands covered in blood.

It was then that she got out of bed and pulled off her tank top shirt and her underwear. She then walked over to the bathroom and went straight for the shower. When she turned on the water, and stepped in, the hot water poured over her body as she still couldn't get over the fact of how good it felt. When she was washed by the people of the Weapon X project, she was just cleansed off with a high pressured water hose that shot out cold water. She much preferred this compared to the fire hose; she got out of the shower and took a towel to dry herself off. Then she looked around and scavenged for anything to wear for the day.

After a few minutes of hunting down some clothes, she was fully dressed. She was now wearing a black T-shirt that showed off her cleavage and belly button, a black choker with a cross on it under her locket choker, a stylish black leather jacket with white fur trim on the collar, a brown leather miniskirt with a chain linked belt, arm sleeve gloves that ended at the shoulder and had no fingers or thumbs, black pantyhose, and stylish combat boots. She had adopted the style from an old family acquaintance that she had once visited, and somehow the style felt right for her to have as her own.

She then went for her black backpack to take with her. She still couldn't believe that she was going to an Art Museum today; she had never been to any of these places. Her 'Brother', Logan, had promised her that after she had told them she had never been to any of the places that she had heard people talk about, he would try to take her to those places for her to experience. She smiled at this, "They…really are good people." She had never truly known what it was liked to be loved by parents or by siblings…now she did.

She opened the door to her room and walked out, closing it behind her and headed down the hallway to go the cafeteria for breakfast.

* * *

**Cafeteria **

* * *

It was a lovely part of the Institute with half of the building in glass to show a lovely view of the forest back yard. As Laura got her breakfast, which consisted only of scrambled eggs, grapefruit, and a glass of milk and orange juice, she looked around again to see the wonders of which were the other students. 

Like her, they were all teenagers or preteens; all of them were mutants, and each one was different from her. There were mutants who were either part animal or insect, showing some human features. Some students had bodies in another form of matter like water, rock, steel, or anything else. And from what she also heard, some students had powers that ranged from telepathic and telekinetic to anything else. And there were even students with gifts that were more extreme, that they became a danger to others as well as to themselves. But here they all were learning to control those gifts and the world, playing, and being accepted by each other for who they were and not feared for what they were.

She smiled at this as she sat down and looked at the students, 'I thought I would hate it here…but I feel more at home here, as I do with my brother.'

It was just as she was eating her breakfast, she heard footsteps come near her. She turned around and saw a girl of sixteen, a red head so to speak with the same build as she did. Though unlike her, she had silver skin, and silver eyes, mostly because her body was mainly composed of a non-toxic mercury, which was pretty malleable by will alone.

Her name was Cessily Kincaid, or to her friends, Mercury, and she was sitting at Laura's spot. But before she did, she asked, "I'm sorry…but do you mind if I sit here for a while? I'm waiting for my friends to come by." Laura raised an eyebrow at her and nodded, "Okay." Cessily smiled as she sat down and began to eat her own breakfast. It was then that something had bugged at Laura as she asked Cessily, "By the way, why are you eating? I thought it was because of your particular mutation that you don't need to eat or drink."

Cessily stopped eating, surprised that she knew of that and just shrugged, "Well, it doesn't matter. I just do it naturally." She then took a sip from her OJ glass, "I guess when I eat or drink, it makes me feel human." It was then that Laura half smiled at this as she stated, "None of us are human, you know."

Cessily shook her head politely and smiled, "We're still human, we're just a little…different from the normal ones." For a moment, the two girls were a little on the quiet side, but then a few minutes later, Cessily then started again, "So…you're a clone…" she stopped for a moment and apologized, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

She was interrupted by Laura, who said, "It's okay, I know what you're trying to ask." She nodded, "Yes, I am Mr. Logan's clone, but I'm also his sister." Cessily sighed in relief as she asked, "So he's your family, eh?"

Laura nodded as she smiled, "I am…and I'm…very happy about it." It was then that Cessily noticed the girl's changed attitude. She then smirked, "So even the quiet and anti-social X-23 can smile. Finally, no one's ever seen you smile ever since you started here." Laura raised an eyebrow at that and then came to realize that truth; ever since she met with her 'Brother', and came to this school, she had felt happier with herself and everything around her. Though there were still times when…she shook her head, 'No, don't think about that. It's not their concern what I do to myself.'

It was then that Cessily noticed the look on her face as she asked her, "Um, is something wrong? You looked a little troubled." Laura snapped out of it as she stated, "N-No, I'm fine." But before she could ask, someone called to Cessily, "Hey, Cess! Over here!" Laura noticed it to be that boy with the powerful telekinetic powers, a Caucasian boy, slim but tight muscled build, with short black hair slicked back and sticking up, and an arrogant smirk to him. She knew him as Julian Keller, AKA Hellion.

He was sitting along with his crew, a sixteen year old Puerto Rican named Brian Cruz, a big brawly fellow made entirely of rock, named Santos Vaccarro, a fifteen year old Afghanistan girl in a traditional black burqua named Sooraya Qadir, and a brooding Caucasian boy wearing a skin tight black rubber suit with gloves to match, with black clothes as well, named Kevin Ford.

Cessily seemed to light up when she saw Kevin got up with her tray and shouted, "Coming!" But not before she turned back to Laura and said, "I had a good time talking to you." But then she got an idea as she asked, "Hey, you want to come over? We could talk some more." Laura looked back at Cessily, but then back at Julian. From what she heard, he allowed his abilities to make him a little arrogant in some cases. It was because of that, he got too cocky and wasn't well liked by the other students.

She shook her head, "No…thank you, though." Cessily shrugged, "Okay, but if you change your mind…" she then walked over to her friends, leaving Laura back to her breakfast. She had to hurry fast; she remembered Logan and Kitty were taking her to the Art Museum this afternoon.

* * *

**Front Door Lobby **

* * *

Laura waited for her brother and Kitty to show up and take her to the Art Museum. She was waiting so anxiously to go, she began to lightly tap her foot with anticipation. She looked around the entrance, eager to see her brother, and the museum. But then, someone called out to her in a familiar tone, "Hey, Laura, over here." 

She turned around and saw Kitty Pryde, dressed in blue jeans, an Aqua Green long sleeved blouse, a brown jacket, and brown slip on shoes. Laura smiled at seeing a familiar face, but then she was surprised at who was with her. behind her was a Caucasian girl with a slim but slender figure, with long brown hair that seemed to blow in the wind; she was wearing a blue turtleneck, brown jeans, brown shoes and carrying a black backpack. She was Sofia Magenta, a Venuzlaian who spoke pretty good English, friend of Laurie Collins, and a mutant who had the ability to control the movement of air, which included the ability to generate wind, fly and, more subtly, amplify small vibrations in the air - allowing her to hear faraway conversations.

Next to Sofia, was a girl of fifteen, Caucasian, slim but slender like her friend and Laura, and had long blonde hair, tied in a ponytail, with blue eyes. She was dressed in a pink t-shirt and blue overalls, with white sneakers. It was pretty clear that she was pretty shy and very cautious around a certain boy walking in front of her. She was Laurie Collins, friend of Sofia and a member of a rag tag team of Dani Moonstar's, AKA Mirage's little group that was affectionately called by the other students, the New Mutants, and a mutant that could generate pheromones, which when used in any way, could alter the chemical balance in the brains of those around her. Initially, she still had no control over this effect at all, and she would cause everyone within range to match her moods. But luckily for her, she had friends that would be there to help her with them.

The boy standing next to Laurie, who was next to Sofia, looked to be a Caucasian boy, except for the fact that he had golden skin and golden eyes, around sixteen with a small but tight muscled body, short blonde hair with bangs in the front, swiped over to the right side, and blue eyes. He was wearing a white turtleneck shirt with black sleeves and black turtleneck collar, and blue jeans with a pair of hiking shoes. His name was Josh Foley, former Reaver, hater of mutants, but friend in the New Mutant's group. He was an interesting case of mutant; he was capable of controlling the biological structure of any organic matter including his own or anyone else's body. However, he is still inexperienced in the use of his powers, and the limits of his abilities are still unknown, even to most mutant experts. Currently for now, he mostly used his powers for healing, at which he is very skilled. But from what he learned, he must be in close proximity to whomever he heals, but can heal through clothing. It was aslo during an incident with a former New Mutant, that he altered his physical appearance that turned his hair, skin and eye color gold, literally turning him into a Golden Boy.

Laura was a little surprised at this as she walked up to Kitty and whispered, "Where's Logan?" Kitty whispered back, "Well, at the last minute he was called up by Scott and Emma, so he'll probably won't be able to make it." Laura looked a little down at that; she was really hoping to spend time with him in order to get to know him better.

But then Kitty nudged her a bit, "But, hey, this'll be a good way for us to get to know each other better until then." Laura smiled at that, but then looked at the three students behind her and gave Kitty a raised eyebrow as she nodded towards them. Kitty gave her a goofball grin, "Well, when they saw me leave, they asked where I was heading…" she then had a nervous smile on her face, "…well, they wanted to come along."

Laura was a little unsure about this; she did want a normal life, but she still wasn't comfortable with the fact of making friends. During her training, she was put through isolation, with the exception of her mother. She was only trained on how to act around crowds, but she never socialized with anyone. She looked at the three students, particularly the shy one, Laurie Collins, and the ever so cheerful Sofia Magenta.

She inertly gulped at this, 'Compared to the training…this will be tougher.'

* * *

**Head Master's Office **

* * *

In the office, Logan was sitting in one of the guest chairs, while at the desk, sat Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, in his uniform. And standing next to him was Emma Frost. It was during the attack that Magneto caused that destroyed the Institute, which it was rebuilt, and that Xavier left to spread his message of acceptance for Mutants all over the world. In this decision, he left his students, Scott and Emma in charge of the Institute. 

It was after Logan had stretched out a bit, much to Emma's annoyance, he asked, "So what did you two need to see me about?" Scott cleared his throat and looked at Peter seriously, "As you know, Logan, the faculty staff is made up of the X-Men." Logan grunted, "Tell me somethin' I don't know, Bub." Scott sighed as he continued, remembering that Logan could be a little impatient about these things, "And that there are times that we're called for duty." Logan nodded as Emma then spoke, "You remember when Magneto had attacked the school, and that it was nearly demolished, am I right?"

Logan nodded, "Of course I know, I was there to help you out. We even had to try and evacuate as many of the students as we could with the others." He remembered it clearly; not like the memories that had been scattered and eroded in his head

He and the other X-Men that were present on that day had tried to defend the school against Magneto, who was under the disguise of Xorn, one of the instructors of the school. It took them a long battle, and many got injured, but no fatalities…and that Magneto got away, as always. Unfortunately, the Institute took it the worst as it was completely demolished.

After that most of the students had to bunk in with some of the adults that some of the students knew of in Salem Center. Such as Laurie Collins' mother, or in the Salem Square district. After which, the school was rebuilt into a newer version of the old one, and that Xavier made Scott and Emma the new Head Deans. So then Logan asked again, "So what does all of this have to do with me?" Scot then answered, "It has to do with both the students and the teachers here."

Logan raised an eyebrow at this and stated, "Sorry, Scott, I'm not followin' ya, here."

Emma then explained, "The last thing we want is another incident like that. So Scott and I came up with the idea of creating Training Squads." Logan raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Training Squads?" Scott nodded, "Exactly. The squads will be made up of six students each, and will have one teacher be their advisor and councilor." Summers explained that through the squads, they'll be given advanced combat training.

It was then that Logan's eyes went wide as he asked the two incredulously, "Wait! You're gonna turn the students here into X-men? What if some of them don't want to?", he then growled, "Don't forget, they have a choice whether or not to do that."

Emma lightly laughed at that, "No, no, no, Logan. We're not trying to create an army out of the students; we're trying to teach the kids how to defend themselves with the use of their powers." The two then explained that the squads were supposed to teach the students on how to act like a team. To show the meaning of teamwork and family, and to learn to defend themselves as well as each other.

Logan couldn't help but somehow agree to that; both about teaching the students to defend one another and about teamwork. But then he just had to ask, "So what does this gotta do with me?" It was then that Scott finally said, "Well, seeing as we're a little short on staff at the moment…we'd like you to be an advisor to one of the squads."

Logan raised an eyebrow, looking at Scott if he had lost any sense in his mind, and was a little surprised at this, "Me? An advisor?" The two nodded, but then Logan shook his head, "I think you've got the wrong choice for an advisor, Scott, I'm just the Martial Arts instructor here. Why not ask one of the other X-Men for this?" he then pointed out, "Plus, I'm not exactly role model material, ya know." Emma then stated, "Like we said, we're short on staff, and it's because some of the students look up to you like everyone else here, Logan. Plus this might be some good experience for you and Laura."

Logan knew what Frost was getting at; considering that while she accepted Laura into the school, she was still wary on the fact that she might be a danger to the students. It was then that Logan was piecing it together as he stated, "So you need Wolverine or Weapon X to teach this squad?" Scott shook his head, "No, we need you, Logan, to lead a training squad, because in truth you know how tough it is to be alone sometime, and what it is to be a loner."

Logan crossed his arms and thought about it for a moment; it was true, his life wasn't as pleasant except for a few memories that he had. He also knew what it was like to be alone and a loner, and somewhat. He then looked at the two head deans as he smirked, "Alright then, you've got yourselves an advisor." But he grumbled, "But I ain't gonna like it, and neither are the six that I'm pickin' out."

Scott and Emma smiled at this as Logan got up and asked, "So who exactly am I advisin' here?" Emma then smirked, "Well, that's up to you. If you want you could involve your 'sister', Laura as one of the six."

Logan thought about that as well, considering that maybe it would be good for her to try and get into some sort of club activity. It might also be a good chance for her to make some friends. Ever since Laura went to live at the Institute, a few of the Faculty members had noticed that she didn't really talk to anyone here, nor did she ever attempt to even talk to the boys. That last one was pretty unnecessary, but then most girls do talk to boys, despite the fact he wasn't too thrilled about her dating. He figured that would be what a brother would get like to have a boy date his young sister.

Logan shrugged, "Sounds good." He then got up, but not before Emma asked, "By the way, if by any chance you're going into New York today, could you help us look for someone?" Logan asked, "Sure, who?" Emma then stated, "We're not really sure yet. You see, Cerebra detected a mutant signature around a few weeks ago, and then reappeared a few days ago in Manhattan, New York."

Logan raised an eyebrow, "Right here in the Big Apple?"

Scott nodded, "Pretty much, Logan." They also explained that during the time the signature went off, a string of robberies were commenced, with no signs of any evidence as to who it was. Logan just grumbled in response to that, "That doesn't leave much to know who it is."

Emma nodded, but then stated, "But we did find something. The mental residue the mutant left that Cerebra detected, indicated that the individual shares a similar history like that of your sister, Logan." Logan was a little surprised by this as he asked, "Like Laura?" Emma nodded, "Mmhmm. No living parents, orphaned at a young age, and gifted with powers much like you, only different. But it indicates the subject isn't a clone, but an orphaned infant."

Logan was starting to get hooked by this as he asked, "What kind of powers does this kid have?" Scott shrugged, "We're not sure; we didn't see the police reports on the thefts. However we do have something from Cerebra's detention every time the mutant used their powers; the child's an Omega class Mutant."

Logan raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Omega class?"

"It's a high level of Mutants, Logan", Frost explained, "It means that the young thief possesses a gift so powerful and dangerous, that it could become a danger not only to the mutant, but to everyone else. If…the mutant can't learn to control it."

Logan sighed, "Yeah, I know what an Omega class mutant is, Frost." How could he not know; Hank had tried to give him a tutorial after he asked on Foley's mutation. Sometimes the big fuzz ball would go on for hours trying to explain something simple

Logan thought about this, but then finally answered, "I'm takin' Laura to an Art Museum in Manhattan, but Kitty's goin' with her. If I stumble onto anything, I'll look into it." With that, he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him.

He was now in a pickle; first he had to keep his promise with his 'Sister', and now he was supposed to be in charge of a squad, in which he had to pick out the six students. Now, he promised his two teammates and the new Head Masters that he'd look into a dangerous mutant problem.

He sighed as he grumbled, "Why did this get thrown into my lap?"

* * *

**Next Chapter: First Recruit; Where there's Smoke…**


	5. Where there's Smoke

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers**

* * *

**Chapter 4: First Recruit; Where there's Smoke…

* * *

****Manhattan, New York**

**Noon

* * *

**

The streets to the biggest city in America were always bustling with people. Running and walking around, going to and from their daily lives. Cars running around in the driveway to get to their destinations, and mostly helicopters going from building top to building top. Everything was practically normal at Manhattan. Though it had its share of strange phenomenon over the years, such as a few super villains running around, looking for trouble. But yet New York was always thriving with heroes, such as the Avengers, Spider-Man, or any other super powered or skilled person wearing a mask.

This gave the people of New York something to feel comfortable about as they went on with their lives. However, one group was on their way to the Museum of art, and that group was being led by a very familiar redhead. Kitty Pryde was walking in the crowded sidewalks, dressed in blue jeans, an Aqua Green blouse, a brown jacket and brown slip on shoes, along with her purse in tow. Along with her was Laura who she promised to take to the museum, but along with a last minute pick up.

Following them was a Caucasian girl with a slim but slender figure, with long brown hair that seemed to blow in the wind; she was wearing a blue turtleneck, brown jeans, brown shoes and carrying a black backpack. She was Sofia Magenta, a Venuzlaian who spoke pretty good English, friend of Laurie Collins, and a mutant who had the ability to control the movement of air, which included the ability to generate wind, fly and, more subtly, amplify small vibrations in the air - allowing her to hear faraway conversations.

Next to her was a girl of fifteen, Caucasian, slim but slender like her friend and Laura, and had long blonde hair, tied in a ponytail, with blue eyes. She was dressed in a pink t-shirt and blue overalls, with white sneakers. It was pretty clear that she was pretty shy and very cautious around a certain boy walking in front of her. She was Laurie Collins, friend of Sofia and a member of a rag tag team of Dani Moonstar's, AKA Mirage's little group that was affectionately called by the other students, the New Mutants, and a mutant that could generate pheromones, which when used in any way, could alter the chemical balance in the brains of those around her. Initially, she still had no control over this effect at all, and she would cause everyone within range to match her moods. But luckily for her, she had friends that would be there to help her with them.

The boy walking in front of Laurie, who was next to Sofia was a Caucasian boy, except for the fact that he had golden skin, hair, and golden eyes, around sixteen with a small but tight muscled body, short blonde hair with bangs in the front, swiped over to the right side, and blue eyes. He was wearing a white turtleneck shirt with black sleeves and black turtleneck collar, and blue jeans with a pair of hiking shoes. His name was Josh Foley, former Reaver, hater of mutants, but friend in the New Mutant's group. He was an interesting case of mutant; he was capable of controlling the biological structure of any organic matter including his own or anyone else's body. However, he is still inexperienced in the use of his powers, and the limits of his abilities are still unknown, even to most mutant experts. Currently for now, he mostly used his powers for healing, at which he is very skilled. But from what he learned, he must be in close proximity to whomever he heals, but can heal through clothing.

Laura looked behind her for only a moment and thought, 'So these were the ones that wanted to come with us.' She then turned to Kitty and raised an eyebrow, "Your idea?" Kitty shrugged as she told her, "Well, actually, it was more like hers." She said as she pointed at Sofia without getting noticed.

Laura raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Why?" Kitty shrugged, "I guess she overheard the fact that you don't have any friends at all, and wanted to…you know, be friends with you." Laura turned away and simply said, "I don't need friends." Kitty looked a little surprised as she asked, "Why do you say that?" Laura wasn't sure of why either; something inside her just told her not to make any friends. Kitty noticed that she seemed to tense up; almost as if she was trying to force herslef for an answer.

Before Laura could try to answer, Kitty placed a reassuring had on Laura's shoulder, "It's okay, Laura. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She looked voer to Laurie, Sofia, and Josh, and then back to Laura and whispered, "But couldn't you at least give them a try? Who knows? You might like them." Laura wasn't a little sure about that, as Sofia popped up and smiled to Laura, "Laura! So you have never been at New York's Art Museum?" Laura was a little taken back by Sofia's forward attitude, but simply answered, "Um…no, not really." Sofia smiled, "That is so good! I think you will be surprised at this museum. It is carrying some very valuable memorabilia from artists of this very city."

As soon as she said that, Kitty announced, "Hey we're here." Eveyrone stopped as they saw the massive building that almost reselmbed the Library of Congress. It was then that Josh teased, "Last one to the door's a rotten Brotherhood." And with that, he was running up the stairs, with Laurie following, "Josh, wait! Slow down!" Sofia followed, "Hey, you are not winning that easily."

Kitty turned to Laura and smiled, "Come on, Slowpoke." And with that, she too followed suit, leaving Laura a litlte confused, but then she smirked, "You are not beating me." And with that she ran after them, not aware of a certain person was wlaking up the stairs. He was dressed in dirty jeans, worn out brown hiking shoes, a dirty worn black shirt, and a dark brown overcoat with a hood over the head.

The only distinguishing feature that could be shown of the individual's identity, were three bangs of flaming red hair on the right side of the head popping out of the hood, his white tanned skin, and a dog tag hanging around his neck.

* * *

**New York's Museum of Art

* * *

**

Inside the museum, it was filled with valuable works of art, carefully put in display cases that were heavily secured and tightly watched out on. When they entered the metal detector, it took quick thinking from Kitty and surprisingly Josh to come up with a story for Laura when she entered it. It went off just as soon as she entered it; the guards were baffled as to why it would do that, when she didn't have any visible metal on her.

As soon as they got passed security, they were on their way to look at the exhibits. Josh, while walking sighed, "I didn't know how we got away with that? I mean what would happen if they found out about…well, you know." Laura looked down at her hands and feet, and sighed, "I know…" Kitty stood by her daughter as she placed a reassuring hand on her, "I wouldn't let them hurt you, Laura. No matter what, and I know that Logan wouldn't let them hurt you, either. Even if he's a little too stubborn to admit it."

Laura smiled at that, but then Sofia defended her, "I will not let them hurt you either, Laura." Laurie stepped up and shyly replied, "I…I wouldn't let them do that either." Laura looked a little surprised by their action, and turned to Josh, who just shrugged, "Hey, I'd stand by my kind."

Laura smiled at this and said, "Thank you…everyone." With that, they made their way tot the boat art exhibit. They were currently looking at the nautical memorabilia section. Sofia, who had brought a camera with them, was taking pictures of everyone near them. It was then when Laurie was looking at the items, she asked, "So how much do you think all of this is worth?"

Kitty walked up and answered, "Well, to the right collector…I'd say around millions."

Josh cocked an eyebrow as he stated, "And my mom told me to throw out all my models."

The two ladies lightly laughed at that quirk, as the hooded stranger walked past them. The stranger looked around the place, trying to find something, so the stranger pulled the hood off. It was revealed that the stranger was a boy, around sixteen, Caucasian, with flaming red hair that was messy and spiky. He also had a set of brown eyes that were looking around the room for something.

Sofia, however, caught a good look at him and smiled, "Now there is a photographic face." She then snapped a few shots of him; when Laura saw this, she turned and asked Sofia, "What are you doing?" Sofia smirked, "Well, these photos are for a…private collection."

The boy was trying to find what he was looking for and took notice of the nautical exhibit. It was then that he smiled mischievously, but then took notice of a flash or two. It was then that he took notice of a raven black haired girl, and a brunette with a camera in her hands. It was then that he knew he was in trouble, but covered it up with a smile as he walked over to them.

Sofia was almost blushing a little as he came up to her. He then spoke to her as he lightly tapped her camera, "I hope you got my good side.", Sofia was suddenly at a loss for words as she tried to say something. It was then that the redhead looked at Laura and winked, and left them standing there as he walked away from the two girls. Sofia sighed as she looked at the boy's retreating form in a dreamy stare, "He is so…."

"…conceited.", Laura said, filling in the blanks, looking at the boy with disgust.

Sofia looked at her with a raised eyebrow and stated, "You really do not have taste for men at all." Laura looked at her confusingly as she asked, "What do you mean by that?" Sofia then turned at the boy's retreating form as she saw he was going into the nearby men's room. She then smirked, "Maybe when you find that boy you really like, Laura…you will understand."

Laura just huffed as she and Sofia regrouped with the others, "I honestly don't want to understand."

* * *

**Men's Room

* * *

**

The boy who had bumped into Laura and Sofia was currently looking around, trying to see if anyone was in there. He sighed in relief as he stated to himself, "Good, no one can see me at work…as always."

He then walked over to the doorway and just brought up his right hand at it, holding it out like he was going to grab it. Then suddenly, his hand glowed red with flames, and then the door knob and cracks began to melt in place, welding it together and locking the door from the inside out. The boy then sighed in relief as he looked up and saw a vent. He then reached up with both hands and smirked, "Time to turn the heat up in this place."

His eyes began to glow yellow with flames as his hands glowed as well. And from those hands, shot out a tremendous stream of flames into the vent that traveled everywhere; around the air conditioning systems all over the museum. He then mused to himself as the flames started to spread in the system, "And with that done…let the panicking do the rest."

* * *

**Back with the Others

* * *

**

They were just finishing their exhibit tour, with Sofia stopping one last time to take a picture. But when she did, the camera made the sound that indicated that the film was done. She looked at it confused, "Out of film already?" She then opened it to reload it, but then found that the film that was in there, had been mysteriously incinerated into sand. She was surprised as she asked, "What the…?"

Laurie looked at it and asked, "Isn't that the film, Sofia?" Kitty and Laura looked at the remains of the film, spilling out of the camera like sand as Sofia asked, "What caused this to happen?" Josh looked at it and asked, "Faulty film?"

"It was incinerated.", Laura answered, looking that the film as if studying it.

Everyone turned to Laura at this as Laurie asked, "How do you know that?" Laura simply said as she knelt down and rubbed a little bit of the film in her fingers, and sniffed, "The scent smells like it was burned." Kitty asked, "From the inside?" Laura nodded, but then shot straight up, sniffing around. Kitty then asked, "What is it?" It was then that Laura's eyes widened as she shouted to everyone around her, including the other people looking at the exhibits, "EVERYONE! GET OUT OF HERE!"

But before anyone could ask about the girl's strange outburst, out of the vents from the ceiling, shot out pillars and waterfalls of flames. The fire then spread over the walls, without burning the artwork, seeing as how they were all protected in cases made of three inches of bullet proof glass, but everyone else was shouting their heads off, going into a panicked frenzy.

Kitty and the teens were huddled together as everyone tried to reach to an exit. However, due to all the tremendous panicking, the automated security system activated, and the barred doors came sliding down, and locked in place. This canceled out all chances of escape for anyone during this. Everyone screamed in freight as Josh muttered, "Talk about getting trapped like rats."

Kitty whispered lightly, "Great, now what?"

Everyone was still trying to find a way out of there, seeing that the fire wasn't going anywhere and not spreading to them. The panicking was growing beyond anyone's capacity to handle. It was then that Laura muttered, "I'm not waiting to be saved." She then broke from the group, with Kitty yelling, "Laura, wait!" But going on to deaf ears as Laura advanced towards the metal barred doors.

As soon as she got to the door, she shouted, "Everyone get back!" As soon as everyone complied with it, she brought up her balled fists, and to everyone's horrified surprise, two metal claws popped out from both hands at the knuckles. She then yelled out as she slashed at the barred doors, slicing them up to make a space way big enough for everyone to run out to. She then sheathed her claws back into her hands as she turned to everyone and said, "Go!"

The people were a little uncertain at this as some of the people were looking at her with disgust, realizing that she was a mutant…to them, a filthy mutant. They were glaring daggers at her, scowling at her for even being a mutant, as one person shouted, "Why should we trust you, Mutie?" Then another followed, "Yeah, you freak!" Laura expected this to come; she knew that despite that mutants were public, as soon as the Institute's true nature was made public, people were still afraid, or hated them.

Kitty, however, wasn't about to let this go on; she wasn't going to let them talk to her that way. So she ran up and stood to defend her, "Don't talk to her like that!" When she shouted, everyone was a little surprised by that, even Laura as Kitty went on, "She just took a big risk exposing herself to make a way out to help us all. So take it if you want to get out of here!"

Everyone looked a little confused by this, but then agreed as they all ran past Kitty and Laura and out the exit. Sofia ran up to them, followed by Josh and Laurie, and said, "Ms. Pryde…that was very brave of you." Kitty merely huffed, "I couldn't let them talk that way about Logan's sister now could I." Laura merely blushed from embarrassment at that. They were about to run out of there, until Laura stopped for a moment to pick up a scent.

She then growled as she ran back in there, with Kitty shouting back, "Laura! What are you doing?" Laura shouted back, "Someone's still in there! The _same_ someone who started this!" And with that, she was gone.

Kitty turned back to the students and they knew what they had to do; they had to get everyone out of the building before it went down on them. As the tourists were running towards the exit doors, some of the flames had reached the ceiling, causing it to buckle down as it came falling towards them. They all shouted in terror, but then suddenly, a huge gust of wind came blowing away the debris missing them. Sofia had used her wind powers in the nick of time as Josh praised, "Way to go, Wind Dancer."

Sofia smirked at that, but then Laurie shouted, "Sofia, look out!" She looked up and saw that some debris was heading towards her head, so Kitty, out of instinct, ran towards her to shield the girl. Both Laurie and Josh watched in terror as the debris came right on top of them. Both Kitty and Sofia were waiting for the stuff to hit and bury them, but it never came. The debris suddenly fell right through them and into the ground. It seemed at the last minute; Kitty had used her phasing abilities to not only make her intangible, but also the floor under them.

Sofia just sighed in relief at what had just happened, while Kitty just smiled and whispered, "Made it just in time." Sofia nodded, "I am glad you did too, Ms. Pryde." Kitty then turned and spoke out to the people, "Okay, everyone listen up. Head to the East side. There's a clean exit that way, so take it out of here!" With that said, everyone ran for the East side to find the only clean way out. Kitty then turned to the three teens and stated, "You may want to go that way too."

The three teens were about to run for it, but then Josh asked Ms. Pryde, "But what about Laura?" Kitty answered, "She's back there…she said someone's still back there." She then pointed back the direct that Sofia and Laurie went and said, "Get out of here; I'll go back for Laura!" Not wanting to get in trouble with his guardian, Dani Moonstar again, he nodded and ran to follow suit. Kitty then ran towards the way to where Laura was going.

* * *

Back in the Nautical Memorabilia, the same redheaded boy had melted the glass casing that held some golden boat memorabilia as he started to stuff them in a bag he had brought with him. As soon as he was done, he turned around and came face to face with the same raven haired girl that was with the brunette.

Surprised by this, he simply asked, "Uh, you do know there's a fire going on? Aren't you leaving with the others?"

Laura scowled at him, "I would…but then I would let the perpetrator get away." The boy looked around and asked, "Really? Where is he?"

"He's standing right in front of me.", Laura said bluntly.

The boy looked shocked, but asked innocently, "What? Lil' ol' me?" He took notice that the girl was serious. He shook his head in exhaustion, and then sighed; he knew he was found out, so he cocked an eyebrow, "Oh dear, you found me out. However, even if you've found me…", he lifted his free hand, as it was engulfed in flames, "You have no weapon to stop me."

And suddenly, as if on cue, she brought up her hands as her claws shot out. The boy went wide eyed and paled at this, "Oooh, shitake…." Laura then growled and charged at him, hoping to slash at the bag. However, she didn't expect him to throw the bag into the air, dodge her slash strike, and then as she passed him, round house kick her from behind. As she turned to attack once more, he shot a fire blast at her; luckily she dodged it as it struck the wall and blew a hole in it.

She realized the seriousness of the situation as she was fighting against a powerful pyrokenetic, 'Gotta be careful around him…' she saw a pillar of granite and went to it; using her left claw, she slashed a section of it, and round house kicked it at the boy. He dodged it with ease, but then saw her coming right at her, with a few upper kicks and a few sideway slashes and stab thrusts at him. It was until he blocked a strike with his flaming arm that he asked out in the open, "Where the heck did you learn to fight like this?"

Laura broke the block and nearly sliced off his right arm, "In a military facility…" then she back heeled kicked him but missed as he tried to punch her with another fire blast, but then she crouch dodged it, "And I still practice…", then tried to upper stab him, "…six hours a day!" But he flip jumped and dodged again.

Hearing that, he thoughtlessly stated, "You need to find yourself a boyfriend."

That remark, however, got her to get angry as she pounced in claws first. What she did expect was that he ducked and came right under her, and grabbed her wrists. As she touched the ground, she struggled with trying to break free of him, but to no avail. It was at this point that she got a good look at him; he was only two centimeters taller than her. Not to mention that the two of them were pretty close.

It was then that he decided to push it further as he gave her a small crinkled smile. When she saw him smiling at her, for some odd reason, she felt her face get hot, and her heart was beating as fast. Then he said, "Or…perhaps the reason you practice six hours a day is because you can't find one. Or in no way capable of wooing such a target." It was then that a thought passed his mind as he looked a little worried about something.

He then made the mistake of asking, "You're not a eunuch disguised as a girl, are you?"

That was the last straw as she growled, "I practice six hours a day, so that when I meet some boy like you…", then the boy heard a 'snikt' sound as he looked down and saw coming out of her boot, a single claw to where her big and index toe was, "…I CAN KILL HIM!" And then she brought up her leg in a kick slash, but thankfully the boy had jumped away from her in the nick of time. However, he noticed that her claw had caught his dog tags as they were slashed off and fell tot the ground.

As he stepped back, he saw now that the girl didn't just have two claws in her hands, she probably had one in each foot. He grimaced at this, "Sheesh, just how many claws you got in you?"

She snarled, "Six. Enough to cut off that mouth of yours." She then jumped at the walls, in order to dodge the next attack he had, and came slashing at him again. However, he was prepared for this as he brought up both his arms, and then the flames engulfed both his forearms and hands, as the flames became elongated like whips.

He then whipped the right one right at her, but she easily dodged it as she got back on the ground. He then used his left one to try and snag her legs, but to no avail as she jumped right at him. He stepped back a few times, and fired off a bombardment of fire blasts at her, missing her as she was getting closer.

Then suddenly, he got lucky as one of the blasts hit the left side of her face, "AAAAAHHHHH!", She screamed out as she fell to the ground, curled up in a fetal position and holding her face.

The boy went wide eye with shock at what he had done, "No…what have I…" when his eyes stopped glowing with flames, the room's fire died out, and he ran over to her and knelt down, "Hey, you alright?" He reached down and then lifted her up a little to get a look at her face. However, it was then that he noticed her to be unconscious…and that the burns on her face were healing quite fast.

"What the…", was all he said, until her eyes snapped open, and she decked him in the face with a claw free hand. He stood back up again as he staggered a bit; he then stopped as he got a good look now. The burns on her face had completely disappeared as he figured it out. He then stated, "Oh, I see…you've got a healing factor. That would make sense with the burns disappearing."

She growled as she asked, "Is that supposed to pacify you?"

He nodded, "Well, sort of…you see I don't like hurting people, that's all. And it would be a major problem if I scarred a woman. Especially one as stunning as you."

Ignoring the somewhat compliment he had given her; she found that what he said was very strange of him as she didn't understand that; here he was, stealing and setting the whole place on fire, but he didn't want to hurt anyone. But before she asked, she noticed him tense up, as she saw Shadowcat phasing in there.

The boy turned around and fired a blast of fire at her; however Kitty had phased through it. The boy growled as he threw more fire blasts at her, but Kitty kept swinging and dodging them. After one final blast, Shadowcat phase-jumped in and shouted, "Heads up!", and double slam kicked the boy into the wall.

Kitty then landed next to Laura as he whispered, "Sorry, but if things went on any more, I thought you would kill him." Laura pouted as she turned away, "I wasn't…", but then she shrugged, "Well, I was pretty close to it." Kitty then cocked an eyebrow at her, "I hope not, I'd hate to see his medical bill."

Just then, they heard groaning as the two turned to see the boy get up, slightly disoriented from the kick and slam into the wall. He then saw the brunette and the claw girl together and realized he wasn't in the best of shape for this. He mumbled, "Two against one? That hardly seems fair, especially when it's two attractive ladies."

Kitty then stated, "Look, kid. Whatever your reasons for stealing all this…" the boy then corrected that, "I'm only stealing the boat stuff. It's not like anyone's gonna miss it." Then Kitty asked, "Why? Did Popeye lose something?" Laura just groaned at this; she knew that Kitty loved to make those short jokes. The boy then just brought up both his fists as they were set on fire and roared like rockets, "It's time to exit, stage left." Then Kitty quipped, "Where you going? The show's just beginning."

Then suddenly, the boy then jumped on to his feet, and then the fire began to burn brightly as he began to spin around, faster and faster. Laura gulped, "This isn't good is it?" Spidey answered, "Oh, no it isn't." Then the spinning flames became a giant fire twister as it came straight at them, blazing at the two.

Kitty grabbed Laura and phased to the side and into the wall, dodging the massive fire tornado. The two then phased back and saw the fiery tornado was long gone; Kitty just sighed, "Man, that kid could've gotten a sweet deal if he had signed up for 'Twister'." Laura looked at him questioningly and asked, "Twister?" Peter sighed as he knew that there were still a lot of things Laura still didn't know about.

Suddenly, they heard a crashing sound as the two girls ran towards the crashing sound was and what they both saw was a flaming and sizzling hole that led back outside. Kitty sighed as he stated, "He's gone…" Laura tapped his shoulder, getting his attention as she pointed to the area to where the bag of boat valuables were placed during the fight, "…as is what he stole."

* * *

**Back at the Institute

* * *

**

Kitty had regrouped with everyone and had told them to go back to the Institute. She told them that the police should handle it, but she didn't tell them what had caused the fire, and she asked that Laura do the same. Reluctantly, she agreed to it, but then Kitty had to make one house call.

She went back to the Head Dean's office, along with Logan, to speak with Emma and Scott, and told them everything. Emma was in deep thought mode as Scott pointed out, "So…our newest student is a pyrokenetic, a powerful one…and a thief." Kitty then stepped in, trying to defend the boy's side, "Look, I'm not sure he's doing it so he can earn a membership in the Brotherhood. I'm pretty sure he's stealing for a reason."

Logan then shot back, "Good reason or bad, the kid's still misusin' his powers!"

Emma stepped up as she stated, "I'm sure he is misusing them, but this is still a sanctuary for mutants, young or old. And right now, this boy's in desperate need of sanctuary."

She then got up and thought for a moment; there was still one clue left about him, "There is one thing that still confuses me." The two men and Kitty looked at her with confusion as she replied, "The way he was using his powers, it sounded like he was holding back. And how could one mutant reach a level of power at their teenage years?"

Logan was wondering that too, and he was the one to ask then, "So how did he get like that?"

She shrugged, "I'm not sure, but if we find him, we can ask him on that." She then turned to Kitty and asked, "Was there any clue as to who the boy was?"

Kitty shook his head, "No, but there was one…well actually two things about him that Laura noticed. One: she found out his name's Zachary Walker, and two: he doesn't like fighting girls." Emma cocked an eyebrow as she scowled, "the first piece of information was good, but as for the second one…Can you stop joking for one minute?"

Logan just groaned at what Kitty had said, "Great. That's all we need; a gentleman thief."

Kitty shook her head as she stated, "A red haired teenaged boy who could hold his own against someone with Adamantium claws, and that's pretty volatile. I'm not joking if that's who we're looking for."

Logan then asked, "Did he leave anything else besides his name and the fact that he was chivalrous?"

Kitty thought of something really quick, and then it clicked as she remembered, "During the exhibit, Sofia saw him with a pair of dog tags around his neck. Laura picked them off as they were fighting. That's how she found out what his name was." Much to her dislike of X23 being here, Emma now felt that she had done something useful for a change. She then asked, "And where are the dog tags now?"

Logan sighed, knowing full well that she would like the answer, "Laura has them. I saw her holding them in the lobby."

Emma turned away to not show the look of annoyance she had, so Scott then asked calmly and coolly, "So where's your sister now?"

* * *

**Back at the Museum**

**Night

* * *

**

Laura was standing outside of it; she had been since she snuck out of the Institute. In her right hand were the dog tags that she had taken from the boy, who she now knew was named Zachary Walker. She looked at the dog tags and asked herself if he was really such a bad guy to begin with anyway. It was then that while she was walking up the stairs, she got a good look at the tags. The code print was completely identical…identical to the same tags she once had when she was in the Weapon X Program…and the same ones to which the man who had given her claws, had tossed at her when he attempted to leave her behind on a mission he had accompanied her on.

She stopped at the boarded doors as she was still thinking on Zachary, 'Is it possible…I mean could he be…or was part of…?'

"Excuse me, Miss."

She stopped her train of thought as she heard to where the voice came from. It was a black HAZMAT cleaner, who had just stopped out for a quick cup of coffee. He had noticed someone coming near by and stopped them just in time.

Laura simply said, "I'm sorry, but I…" The man then said, "I'm sorry but my team's cleaning hazardous waste chemicals from this place." She raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Hazardous chemicals?" He nodded, "Yeah, a little petroleum got loose, a little spark, and that's what caused the fire." She knew this man was lying; first, his breathing was irregular, not to mention his heartbeat was erratic, and second, she knew what or _who_ caused the fire. So she skeptically asked, "Hazardous chemicals? In a museum?"

It was then that she was going to get to the bottom of this as she stated, "I'm going in." But then, the man blocked her path as he stated in a steel tone, "For your sake, mam. I suggest you leave." She stood there, studying the man, until she finally left without even complaining. However, the man had his doubts on this decision.

As she walked away from the museum, something unsettling was poking at the back of her head. The boy, Zachary, it was clear that he was trained in martial arts similar to her, and that he was wearing dog tags, marked MX. She stopped for a moment to try and put the pieces together, "Is it possible? Could he be a….?"

She shook her head and denied the idea. She was the only mutant her age that was used for the new Weapon X program. But then the evidence seemed to come in. She had to find him and ask him about his past; and she had the perfect way of finding him as she looked at her opened hands, "I can track him by his scent."

* * *

**New York City**

**City Docks

* * *

**

In an abandoned part of the docks, in an old boating house that no one used, was being put back to use as the lights were on. The boy, now named Zachary Walker, was walking towards a table lit up, with a man around his forties, dressed as an unkempt business man with slicked back brown hair and leaning back in a chair. Zak walked up to him with a grin in tow as he stopped at the table, "Donny, my man, I've got a real treat for you tonight.", he then placed the bag on the table as he smoothly bowed his head, "And I'm letting you be the first buyer because you're my most favorite fence."

Donny raised an eyebrow, not interested in this at all as he stated, "The newspapers said that a couple of boat stuff went missing."

Zak sighed in dismay as he corrected his fence, "Please, they prefer the term Nautical Memorabilia."

Donny then said, "sorry, but I'm gonna have to pass."

Zak's smile didn't fade as he stated, "No?" He pulled something out of the bag, an old boat whistle as he showed it to Donny, "This whistle was touched by the President's lips, you know."

"What wasn't?", Donny said, still uninterested.

It was then that Zak's smile faded as a look of desperation was shown. He then said in a worried tone, "Look, Donny…I can give you a good price, man. I need the money to get out of the country."

Donny then turned to the kid, and stated, "Look, Wildfire, I'd love to help, but I can't pawn this stuff off. Don't you have anything else?"

Zak was quiet for a moment as he thought of something that would be worth more. 'There's got to be something…', he thought, but then he remembered something; an article concerning the treasury at the UN building. He smirked as he answered, "I think there might be something."

Donny then looked interested as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yeah? When?"

Zak then answered, "I can get it to you by next Tuesday. I've got to plan it out first." He then walked towards the door, leaving the stuff he had stolen, but turned around, "You can meet me by the usual place." And was out of there as the doors closed.

Donny was about to throw the stuff out, until he heard footsteps approach him from behind. He pulled his gun out as he shouted, "Who's there!" Then from out of the shadows, men dressed in black combat uniforms, holding dangerous looking Hulk Buster rifles, and wearing black hoods with white porcelain masks over their faces stepped out. And with them came a woman, around her twenties, curvy but built as a gymnastic athlete, dressed in a red and black battle combat uniform that exposed a little of her cleavage in high heel boots, came in. She looked Asian, having long raven black hair, and had green eyes.

As she approached Donny, he seemed terrified as she smiled a very dangerous and blood-thirsty smile. She then got close enough to him to see him sweat, as she asked in a sultry voice, "and were exactly is…the usual place?"

* * *

**Next Chapter: Knowing Wildfire; New Home**


	6. Knowing Wildfire

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Knowing Wildfire; New Home **

* * *

**Manhattan, New York**

**Docks**

**Night **

* * *

Laura had been tracking the scent of the boy, Zak Walker for some time now. She had been following the scent for some time, but the trail had only led her to a few locations, much that would not show of any significance. They were mostly fence men; it was obvious that he was trying to earn money, but trying to stay out of a job. It was almost as if he was trying to hide from something.

Then it hid her like a board to the back of the head. It was one of the protocols that they had taught her: to stay off the grid. This might have been the reason why he was stealing only priceless but non missed items. He was trying to stay hidden. It was then that she stopped by the pier as she looked out at the ocean, and asked herself, "but what's he hiding from?"

As she continued on, she took whiff of a different scent; it wasn't the scent she was following…it seemed almost… "Canine?", she asked herself. She sniffed around; trying to get a definite fix on it; but the place was littered with smells, such as dead fish and booze. The smells were mixing with the faint dog smell, but she didn't have to sniff out. Because she knew that the smell she had a while ago had only appeared only once.

She could tell now that something…or someone was following her, and it wasn't a smell she was familiar with from the Institute or one of the students or teachers she sniffed before.

Before she could get it up again, she heard distant shouting, coming from one of the pier docks. She then continued to walk on, being very wary of her surroundings. She didn't undergo thirteen years of torture and pain in the Facility to just go and let her guard down. When she finally got to where all the shouting was, she had found a seedy bar that was built in to one of the dock houses. From the looks if it, it was a place for rules to be broken in, and illegal fights.

She saw that not many decent looking people were anywhere near the place. All she saw were truck drivers, street thugs, some were teens dressed like her trying to catch a fight, and other misfits of society. As she went to the ticket agent, she heard the guys who were whispering give her some discriminating things about her…

"Wow, she's hot…for a freak."

"What a slut."

"I'd do her on the spot…"

Laura ignored the voices as she went to the ticket agent; she had heard it all before when she worked for Daddy Zebra and didn't care for it much now. The ticket vendor then said, "Teenagers: $30." Laura checked her pockets for any money and suddenly remembered that she had left her wallet behind. Then suddenly, a fat and ugly truck driver came up and tried to get cozy with her, "Hey darling…", then by instinct, he grabbed her butt, "I'll pay for ya…if iz we getting' a little private moment later on."

Laura, innerly puked, gave him a fake smile as she lightly hooked his shirt collar, "Better yet…", she then pulled him away from the crowd, with him chuckling like a perverted idiot. They then disappeared behind the building, and all that could be heard was the driver yelling, and tremendously powerful punching and kicking sounds. After a few minutes, Laura came out, completely untouched, and with a wad of cash in her hands.

Everyone backed away from her, in fear of getting beat up by her, and she showed him the wad of tens in her hands. She smirked, "Will this be enough?"

The ticket agent just stared in terror at her, but then nodded, "Y-Yeah, sure, honey." He hten gave her a ticket and the change of twenty back to her.

As she was going in, she said back to the ticket agent, with a glaring smile, "By the way…Don't call me 'Honey'." And waltzed right in as she picked up the scent of the mutant, Zak Walker.

* * *

**Inside **

* * *

The hub was filled with the sounds of crying out for the fight to start. Laura had never heard of such noise for so much violence. She had despised doing violence as ordered from others to others, in an attempt to make a weapon for money. Here, it was no different from where she worked; these people were paying to watch two people possibly kill each other. She scowled at this, "Why do people want to see others in pain?" She just saw them, roaring out for someone to kill someone else. 

She shook her head as she tried to see Zak Walker anywhere, "Why would he be here?"

Then suddenly she heard a thud to the ground as she turned and saw what everyone was looking at. It was a cage, completely made of wire fence, and an old boxing ring; there were also sharp wire around it but nothing life threatening. She figured this was where the fights were usually held and walked to it.

Then into the ring, a little gray haired man, dressed up like a drifter, popped into the ring with a microphone in his hands. Laura then took notice of something else…or someone else as they were still in the ring. She saw a boy around sixteen, Caucasian, and was wearing a pair of dirty jeans, worn down brown hiking shoes, and a skin-tight black T-shirt. However, there was one feature she did recognize…the tussled red hair.

"Zak Walker.", she whispered to herself, letting out a small smile of her accomplishment.

Then the announcer went to the middle of the ring as Zak leaned in on his corner of the ring, taking a breather with his face in the shadows. The Announcer then took the microphone as he shouted in it, "Ladies and gentlemen…in all my years, I've never seen a fighter quite like this kid.", he pointed at Zak.

The crowd shouted, cheering or booing at the boy from the boy's previous fight. Laura raised an eyebrow as she tried to understand how he could have won. The announcer then asked the crowd, "Are you gonna let this kid…walk away with your money?"

The crowd roared with determination at this. But then out of the crowd, a blonde hair jock with a white shirt, blue jeans, and red and white sneakers shouted as he made his way to the ring, "I'll fight him!"

Laura was now worried…particularly for the jock; if Walker was a claimed fighter as the drifter had claimed him to be, the fight would be over in a matter of minutes. The blonde went in there as the announcer shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, our savior!"

Zak still had his back turned as the jock was about to punch his lights out. But before that the announcer whispered to him, "Whatever you do, don't call him 'Shorty', or hit him in the balls." The Jock looked confused by this as he asked, "The fight rules said that 'Anything Goes'. Right?" The announcer nodded, "Yeah, anything goes, but…well, he'll take it personal." As the announcer made his way out, the bell sounded off and the fight commenced.

The blonde noticed that the champion wasn't even moving; he was just standing there with his back to him. The blonde glared and growled at this, and he just ran in there and punched him from behind, on the right deltoid. Zak was down on his knees, holding his right shoulder. The jock smirked as he kicked him in the gut while Zak tried to get back up. And then the Jock punched him across the face as Zak was smacked into the fenced cage.

Everyone was booing at this turn of events, seeing their red headed champion losing this way. Laura was standing there, in the middle of the crowd, and watching the whole thing. For some strange reason, she felt worried about him; he was barely even fighting at all. But then she raised an eyebrow at that thought, 'Why am I worried about him? He's a conceited, he's a hot head…he's…' she shook her head, not wanting to go into it any further. But she also had another thought; what if he was just waiting to size him up? What if he was just taking the beating, so he could wait for the right moment? Kind of like playing possum?

It was after she thought that, Zak was finally getting up, grunting as the Jock ran towards him with his right fist heading straight for him. Then as the Jock reached for him, Zak countered him with his right and punched the jock's fist, head on. The Jock doubled back, holding his bruised and probably cracked knuckles. Zak got back up as the Jock ran towards him with his left fist. Then as the Jock reached him once more, Zak was able to block it with his right hand, then grabbed it, and pulled the Jock into an arm lock with the Jock's back turned to him, and with Zak's left hand behind the Jock's head.

The Jock then grunted through gritted teeth, "Let…go of me…and fight me…!" Zak just merely said, "Okay." He then balled up his left hand into a fist, and then smacked it across on the Jock's head, knocking him out cold. Zak let the boy go, and the Jock just then flopped on the ground unconscious. Everyone cheered at this, shouting to the red head on a victory well earned, while some were booing at him.

The announcer, then came back in, and spoke in the microphone once more, "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's winner, and still king of the Cage…" he then walked up to the boy, and raised his right hand, "…Wildfire!" Zak, or Wildfire, raised his other hand and gave them a thumbs up, and smiled cockily at everyone.

Everyone either cheered or booed at this turn of events as the boy Zak just waved to them. Laura, on the other hand, looked at him intensely, almost to the point that someone would mistake it for gazing in admiration at him. She had seen moves like that before…those were the same type of moves that she was taught during her growth and training at the Facility. She now knew that it wasn't just a coincidence that he had the same type of dog tags as she did. Now she had to talk to him.

* * *

**Later On **

* * *

The crowd had up and left; the bar house was practically empty, except for a few sleeping occupants sitting around, and the announcer counting his money at a table, with Zak standing on the opposite side from him. The barkeeper was wiping his counter, just waiting for the hours to go by faster. Laura was sitting at the bar, looking at Zak with much interest as to his past with the Facility. 

She was still wondering what connection he had with it, or if he was sent by them. If that was true, what would she do? Would she kill him? She let her hand drop to her side, and then balled up the fist; instinctively and without anyone seeing it, the two claws in her hands just poked out slightly.

She thought as she looked at him, 'What if he is with the Facility? Should I kill him?' Her hand shook as the claws slowly started to come out; her face showing a face of uncertainty about whether or not to kill him. Her 'Brother', Logan, had told her she didn't have to kill anymore, but she didn't know what to do if he _was_ with the Facility. Unconsciously, her claws had come out, as she shook with worry of her actions…

"A hundred Dollars, Frank? That's a rip off!", Zak shouted.

Laura nearly jumped in surprise as she resheathed her claws; she looked at Zak in surprise, and apparently he and the announcer were having a fallout. Zak leaned in on the table and stated, "The ad in the paper said the following: $3,000 to the Winner! I won the fights fair and square!"

Frank, the announcer, didn't look too shaken up by the boy's outburst. He went back to his money counting and solemnly said, "Yeah, $3,000 to the winner…in three minutes. You pinned the last challenger in two, so therefore, you get $100.00."

Zak's face twisted in anger as he shouted to Frank, "I NEED THAT MONEY, FRANK!" Then Frank just huffed as he got into his face and rudely replied, "I fail to see how that's my problem." Giving up, Zak took the hundred, and just walked towards the door, pretty steamed up.

Laura watched as he was heading out to door, and got off the chair to follow him. However, she stopped as the Jock from before, along with his girlfriend, which was a long haired brunette Caucasian girl in a short black mini-skirt, a white shirt, blue and white shoes, and wearing the Jock's jacket, were blocking the exit. Zak stopped in front of him, annoyed and wanting to get out, and not wanting to waste time with this guy.

The Jock then snarled at him, "You owe me some money, Pretty boy." His girlfriend was trying to urge him away from this, saying it wasn't worth it.

Zak just huffed, "Sorry, but I'm tight on cash as it is.", and then proceeded to leave. But the Jock stopped him by grabbing his arm. The Jock then said, "Nobody takes a beating like that and then suddenly gets up and fights."

Zak then rolled his eyes and just sighed heavily, "I'm resilient. I've had people punch me harder than you do." And was about to walk out again, until the Jock grabbed his arm even tighter as he tugged Zak back. He then got close to Zak enough to whisper something in his ear, "I know what you are…"

It was then that Zak had enough of this as he sharply turned to the blonde, who now had a cocky grin on his face. Zak then growled, "You lost your money in that fight…if you keep this up, I guarantee you'll lose something else." Zak then broke the Jock's hold on him and was about to leave. However, the Jock growled as he went after him, shouting, "Hey, I'm talkin' to you, Freak!"

Just about having enough of this, Zak turned around, and blocked a punch from the Jock once more. But this time, brought up a flaming fist as he brought it up to the Jock's chest, and a small fiery explosion followed afterwards, sending the Jock flying back towards the other end of the place. The Jock/s girlfriend gasped at this as she took a few steps away from Zak, while the Jock was trying to get his shirt off, in fear of the Mutant Disease spreading on him. It appeared that Zak had used a small fraction of fire power, seeing as it only burnt a hole on the Jock's shirt.

Laura was a little amazed as ever, seeing how much the boy, Zak, had put a little restraint in that attack. Zak just huffed and was about to go, until he heard a gun cock. He turned his head slightly at the bar table, as did Laura. And not only did Zak spot the girl he had tussled with earlier that day, but also the barkeep had in his hand a shotgun pointed at him.

The barkeeper then demanded to Zak, "Get out of my bar, Freak!" Laura just stood there as she looked all around the place; the Jock and his girlfriend were fairly freaked out, Frank was holding his money up like a shield, and the barkeep was about to blow Zak's head off. She knew this would not go well.

Zak just sighed, and then in a quick motion and stance, Zak brought his right index and middle finger together and shot out a bullet sized fire blast at the gun's barrel as it shot right in. Then suddenly, the gun blew up in half, not hurting the barkeep. Now everyone, minus Zak and Laura, were terrified at this guy. Zak however, just huffed, and walked out of there.

Laura just stood there, watching him go out as if she couldn't move her legs. She looked around, seeing if anyone was going to go after him and hurt him like so many other Mutant Haters she saw attack other Mutants. But these people were pretty freaked out and not trying to cause any trouble. So when she waited long enough, she left to go after him.

* * *

**Outside **

* * *

Laura had gotten out as fast as she could, even if she was wearing combat boots. She looked around and tried to see any sign of him, but to no avail. "He couldn't have gotten far.", she told herself, and then sniffed the air. 

After a few seconds, she picked his scent up, and looked into the direction back towards the city. She smirked, "Got you.", and then ran into the direction to where his scent was leading her.

However, she wasn't aware, or just simply ignored, that someone was watching her. On the rooftop was a huge and brawly figure, leaning forward as if it were part dog. But in the shadows, it looked canine as it had pointy wolf like ears, and a snout, showing razor sharp fangs.

It pounced from roof to roof, as quietly as it could and followed the raven haired girl.

* * *

**Thirty Minutes Later

* * *

**

Laura had followed Zak a few yards away from him into what appeared to be a rundown part of New York. He was about to enter into a hotel that looked like something in the 1950's. The place was in good condition but looked like the rent was reasonably low enough for someone to stay in. Laura continued to follow him, making sure that she wasn't spotted by him.

However, that proved futile, as Zak stopped at the door with his back still turned. Laura hid behind one of the cars nearby as she whispered to herself, "Did he spot me?"

"I know you're out there…", Zak said as he turned around and spoke up with a little annoyance, "So just come out and stop all the sneaking around."

Laura yelled at herself innerly as she sighed in getting spotted. Reluctantly, she stepped out, and showed herself to him. Zak was a little surprised to say the least but not that much as she walked towards him and stopped only a foot from him. Laura then asked him, "How did you know?" Zak just sighed as he crossed his arms, "Well, it's kind of hard to not hear footsteps behind me."

Laura looked away, kind of ashamed of herself for being careless about that. Then Zak continued, "And then when I stopped, I kind of took notice of a smell of Rose Oil." Laura gulped at that and cursed herself for borrowing that oil from Kitty. Then Zak asked, "So how'd you find me? I mean, we haven't exactly seen each other than today."

Laura then pulled from her inner jacket pocket, his dog tags as she answered, "I followed your scent from these." Zak went wide eye as he checked around his neck as he realized his dog tags as he looked at her. He then snatched them back from her, "How'd you get these? And my scent? What are you, some kind of blood hound?" He looked at them, but then raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Or better yet…where were you keeping them?"

Laura raised an eyebrow, trying to understand what he meant by that question. When he didn't get a reply, he just shrugged, "Uh, on second thought….never mind on that." He then looked at her and realized she shivered a little. He then thought about it, but then asked, "Do you want come in?"

She was a little confused by that, but decided to take him up on his offer as she nodded, "Okay." He then opened the door and said, "Ladies first." She stood there, kind of confused by that as she asked, "What?" Zak raised an eyebrow, 'How could she not know what that mans?' He then said, "It's just what a man says when he lets a lady in first. It's kind of a polite thing to do for a girl."

She kind of understood that, and nodded, "Okay." She then went in, followed by Zak, who then caught up and led the way. As they got inside, Laura noticed something odd, everyone was asleep. The Superintendent, the occupants who were waiting by the couch, and when the two teen rounded the corner, a woman asleep on the floor by an open elevator.

Zak saw this as well as Laura looked at him in confusion. He shrugged, "No one gets a lot of sleep around here?" Laura sniffed the air around her; there was no traces of any knock out gas. It was ten that it could have been…her eyes went wide as she grabbed Zak's hand, and told him, "We have to go."

Zak looked a little confused by that as he asked, "But my room's…"

"We've got to go…NOW!", Laura shouted as she pulled him out further. Not wanting to argue with it, he followed. But then someone spoke up, "Hey, Mr. Walker." The two teen stopped and turned around, and saw the superintendent, wide awake, as well as everyone else waking up without even remembering it, as the Super said, "You're three weeks due for you rent."

Zak looked to Laura, who just nodded to go, and he turned to the Super, "Um, I'm on my way out anyway, so you don't have to worry." The clerk just nodded, "Alright. You want your stuff?"

Zak shouted as he and Laura ran out the door, with Laura still holding his hand, "You can keep it!"

A while later, the Clerk had walked up the stairs and headed toward Room 114, Zak Walker's room. The clerk just muttered to himself as he reached the door, and used his skeleton key to get in, "Three weeks, is three weeks. No days off for good behavior." And as soon as the door was opened, he was grabbed by the neck and pushed against a wall. What he saw terrified him.

It was some kind of monster werewolf around the height of eight feet tall and fifty-four inches wide, with red fur and black sharp stripes on the upper arms, long sharp claws, nasty sharp looking teeth, buffed up and almost looking like it was on steroids, and two big mean looking yellow eyes with no pupils. It had hind legs with black sharp stripes on its thighs, a big puffy tail sticking out with a black tip to the end, and appeared to be wearing a skin tight yellow spandex suit that didn't go to his shoulders, but had two metal wrist collars with spikes on them, and a spiked collar around it's neck.

There were also men dressed in black with white porcelain masks on with dangerous looking weapons on them. Then out of the shadows, a man dressed in a black overcoat, with black boots, black gloves, and a black hat came in. When his face showed, he was a thin man with an extremely chalk white skin tone, and dark circles under his silver eyes. He then asked the clerk in a slithery and smooth voice, "Mr. Walker, yes….where is he?"

Not wanting to get on these weirdoes bad side, he nervously replied, "He…he just left…with a girl, not…five minutes ago." Then the man in black walked up to him, and put his hand over his face, and said, "Sleep…now." After that, the clerk was unconscious as the giant Wolf man dropped him and he let him fall to the ground.

The man in black then took off his hat, to reveal he was around nineteen and bald. He then looked to the wolf and said, "Hunt them down. Bring back the Mutant."

* * *

**Back Outside **

* * *

Laura had pulled Zak as far and fast as she could. She knew something was wrong, and whatever it was, they were after Zak. After they had been running for what felt like thirty minutes or so, they stopped to catch their breath. Laura knew that if there weren't any after scents of any airborne anesthesia, it had to been a psychic. 

It was then that Zak asked, "Okay, just what was all that about? Why did I just leave my apartment? What was with all the running?" He then looked at Laura with a raised eyebrow, and asked, "And why are you stalking me? Don't tell me you've got a crush on me?"

Laura looked at him with a look of confusion as she asked, "A crush? But I'm not squeezing you." Zak looked at her, thinking like she had lost her mind; however, she shook her head and explained, "Something bad was happening there. If we stayed, we would have…"

Then suddenly, a huge dumpster was thrown at her, slamming her into a wall, fatally sandwiching her between the brick wall and the steel dumpster. Zak stared in horror as he ran over to her and pushed the dumpster away. She then slumped on the ground, with a few cuts and bruises as he went to her and gently held her in his arms. He pleafully looked at her as his face showed tremendous worry, "Come on, wake up."

She didn't move, which made him even worry. But he spoke to her with his eyes saddened, fearing the inevitable of what had happened but didn't want to accept it. feeling like it would give him some kind of comfort to this, "You know, it's kind of funny….", he closed his eyes as he looked away, "…I've only known you for more than half a day, and I already started to like you…." He then opened his eyes as he looked at the street, "…but I didn't even get to know your name."

"Laura…"

Zak's eyes went wide with surprise as he looked back at the girl. There she was, in his arms, awake and with no signs of any bruises or cuts, just dried up blood and a few tears in her clothes. She then spoke to him as she looked at him, "My name is Laura." Zak just stared at her for a moment, until the two got up as Zak finally asked, "Okay…just one question…how?"

Laura looked at him unfazed and simply answered, "I'm a mutant, like you." Zak raised an eyebrow as he asked, "And that's how you were able to find me? And the claws?" She nodded, but then said, "Yes, but the claws…" She then stopped as she turned her head sharply; she sniffed the air, and heard something approach.

Then she balled up her fists and shot out her claws as she got ready for anything. Zak looked all around them, and back to her and asked, "What is it?" She snarled as she picked up the scent, "Trouble…"

Then suddenly, to their surprise, a giant red and black werewolf creature landed on the ground fifteen feet away from them, and roared out loud. Zak and Laura saw this as Zak activated his powers and had balled his fists and had his fists and forearms light on fire. He then shouted, "You want trouble, furball? Well then, you found it!"

However, before Zak could fire a blast at the creature, it had run all the way up to him and slash punched Zak into a wall. Laura watched as Zak slumped to the ground, with three fresh claw wounds on his chest, and unconscious as a little blood seeped out. She looked at him worried like as she realized the wounds would need to be taken care of. However, at the moment, she had to handle the beast that had attacked him.

She pointed her right set of claws at him and snarled at him, "If he's hurt, I swear I'll…"

The wolf creature just smirked and spoke in a menacing deep voice, "Don't worry, X23…I haven't killed MX113. He's just knocked out."

Her eyes then went wide as she heard what this thing had said, but then snapped out of it as she asked, "MX113? What do you…", but she was interrupted as the wolf creature ran up to her. She was prepared for this as she ducked under it and slashed it across the stomach. The creature landed on the ground, holding his stomach. It then gave her a bloodthirsty smile as he got up, the wounds healing on his stomach, "I remember the simulated training….I remember…those claws."

She went wide eye in surprise at the fact this creature had a healing factor like her. But she didn't have time to think of anything as he charged at her again. She had to think fast but was caught by him by the wrists. He pulled her up to eye level with her hands unable to break free.

The wolf then smelled her, "Ahhh, such a familiar aroma; fear, mixed with anger." He started to sniff her all over her, as she winced at this, "Stop it!" the wolf then looked at her as his eyes were trailing her body, until he reached her eyes and stated, "I heard that you were working as a prostitute for a while…"

Laura's eyes then showed a little anger at this as he asked, "So seeing that I brought that up, did that bring up memories…" and then he licked her from her stomach to her neck, getting a good taste of her, much to her dislike, "…or ideas?"

For a moment, she was silent, until she looked at him with an evil smirk as a snikt sound was heard, "Ideas." And then suddenly, the wolf creature felt a huge surge of pain below the belt. He then threw her at the wall, next to Zak's unconscious form, with her right foot claw sticking out.

The wolf beast was standing there, with his legs crossed; Laura smirked at her small victory. He then growled at her with his fangs grinding together, "If that had been permanent,…" he then charged at the two with his claws showing, "…I'D HAVE BEEN VERY UPSET!"

Laura got ready, to stand her ground to protect Zak, but wasn't expecting on what would happen next. A huge roar had erupted above them and the wolf creature and Laura saw Wolverine, dressed in his usual attire as he was wearing today. His claws were out as he fell in front of the wolf and slashed him across the face.

"AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!"

The wolf beast doubled back in pain, as the wounds healed up, and he was staring at the former Weapon X. Logan huffed as he snarled at the wolf, "Pickin' on kids, Shaggy? Big. Mistake." Not caring who it was he was facing now, the wolf snarled, "Yeah, why's that?" Logan snarled with his claws at the ready, "Because…it _really_ TICKS ME OFF!"

But before Logan could even attack, Laura was back up and ran towards the wolf. Before the wolf could even defend himself, she jumped in the air, and with a round house kick with her foot blade out, she slashed at his neck. He doubled back, coughing up blood, and then she open slashed his chest, accompanied with a few martial art moves with her claws. As the wolf staggered back to gain an advantage, Logan popped up and stabbed him in the chest with one clawed fist.

Logan then pulled it out, with the wolf creature stumbling back. Logan and Laura regrouped together, but the wolf beast jumped up to a wall behind him and started to climb his way up to a roof top, but before he disappeared, he shouted to them, "Weapon X! X23! THIS ISNT OVER!", and was out of sight.

The two resheathed their claws, and Logan turned to Laura, "Ya know, you really need to work on yer teamwork tactics." Laura shot him a look, "I didn't work with a…" she then remembered some thing important as she turned back, "I forgot! Zak!" She ran towards his unconscious form as Logan raised an eyebrow, "Zak?"

He turned around and saw his 'sister' kneeling near a redheaded boy with three slash marks on his chest. He grumbled at this, "It's just one of those nights."

* * *

**Unknown Location**

**Facility R&A **

* * *

In an abandoned waste factory, somewhere not known to the public, much activity was going on within it. inside the factory was a lab filled with tools and experimental rooms that were designed for one thing: Experimentation on Mutants. One familiar face, the Black HAZMAT man, was in a black uniform, looking at the burnt remains of the Art Museum under an electronic microscope.

But then, another familiar face walked in; the wolf creature as it walked past him. However, the black HAZMAT man asked, "Weren't you supposed to bring someone back with you?" All he got was an angry growl at him. Satisfied for teasing the Mutant, he went back to work. The wolf creature then walked down a dark tunnel, and as it did, its shape changed from large to small.

At the end of the tunnel, the same woman wearing the black and red combat jumpsuit was standing next to the creepy chalk white teen in black. The two turned to see now a boy, Caucasian, fifteen, and with short brown hair cut military style, and wearing the same outfit as the were creature was wearing, stop in front of them as the two were overseeing three big screens, each showing a figure in the dark.

The chalk white one looked to the boy, who was supposed to complete his mission in hunting down the two teens, asked him, "What happened, Beowulf, yes?" The boy answered, "They were there: Weapon X and X23…" the woman huffed at this as she made a nod. The chalk white man slightly waved his hand, and from the ground beneath her, the cement was warped into a perfectly formed and real chair.

She then sat down as she asked, "So where's the Mutant now?" Beowulf answered, "With the X-Men now, Kimura." Kimura then huffed again, realizing what should have been a simple retrieval mission, had now become difficult. But she smirked as she saw this as a chance for fun. She gout up from her chair and stated, "We've made the first move; that's all they know."

She then walked towards the hallway until she called out, "Stranger, Beowulf. Come." The two then followed her as she continued, "The scientists have almost finished the Trigger formula for Mr. Walker…", she smiled evilly as the thought of Wildfire would incinerate X23, "…time to find a way to make our little test."

* * *

**Xavier Institute**

**The Next Day**

**Sub-Level**

**Med Labs **

* * *

Hank was looking over some medical notes as a nurse was watching over a specific redhead's vital signs. She was Caucasian, slim and slender, very attractive, had grayish blue hair and brown eyes. Her name was Annie, and she was the only normal person working at the Xavier Institute.

She was currently wrapping some bandages around the youth's chest to where the claw marks were. Zak was unconscious still and had his shirt removed in order to help him. Hank had walked over to see the boy and asked, "So how are his vitals, Annie?" Annie looked at hank and back at the boy, "His vitals show to be normal, but…." Hank raised an eyebrow as he asked, "But what?"

Annie then pointed at the thermo heat reading screen and said, "He has an abnormal body heat temperature." Hank looked at the screen and saw that the readings had shown the boy to have a high body heat reading, "Oh my stars and garters…209 degrees?" He then looked at the boy, but then suddenly, Zak shot up and grabbed Annie in a chokehold.

Zak shouted, "Get back!" Hank did as he told him to, not wanting to have Annie getting hurt. Annie was struggling to break the boy's hold in her, but then he brought up his left hand, and it lit on fire. She stopped as he made his way, slowly towards the door. He then growled, "You're not putting me through those experiments…again."

Hank then realized the boy thought he was in some other place, and pleaded, "Please, son…this isn't where you think you…" but before he could say the rest, Zak pushed Annie back to him and closed the door.

As Zak got out and closed the automatic door, he saw the control panel, and then shot a flame blast at it, melting it. He turned to the door, "See ya later, Cookie Monster." he then looked around trying to see where he was; al he saw was a hallway and doorways that looked like some kind of military science base. He looked around to see if he could find a way out of there.

It was then that he took notice of a closet of some sort. He looked in it and saw a few hooded sweater jackets, and seeing that he wasn't wearing a shirt, took one. He slipped it on and zipped it up to his collar. He looked at it and it was colored Navy Blue, but the weirdest thing on it were the two yellow X's on the shoulders. From what he was looking at also, the doors pretty much had X's on them too.

He then asked himself, "Okay, if it's not the Facility, then where am I?"

_Where are you going?_

_He's over there_

_Over here_

Zak looked around for where those voices were coming from; he walked forward, looking around to see anyone there. Nothing. He walked around for a moment to see anything, but then a door slid open as he prepared for anything, but then saw it was some kind of elevator. It was empty, but that didn't stop him when he heard…

_Inside_

_Over here _

"This is getting old.", he said to himself as he heard those voices again. Instead of debating about it, he stepped into the elevator, and then the door closed.

* * *

**Upstairs **

* * *

The door to the elevator had opened and Zak had found himself in some kind of mansion like room. It looked to be part of some hallway as he walked out and explored, hoping to find a way out. He seemed to walking for what felt like five minutes, until he stopped and hid around a corner. He saw a few teenagers his age, younger or older, sitting near a TV and watching it. 

From what he saw, there was a few of them that almost looked inhuman; one was a huge hulking fellow completely made of rock dressed in what looked like pajamas, and another one was a gorgeous red head with what appeared to be made of some kind of mercury. Another student had short reddish hair, but his skin was purple and had strange tattooed markings on his face, along with some kind of chakra jewel on his forehead.

He had to make sure that he didn't get spotted so he did his best to stay out of sight. He got tot the floor and crawled his way from them. After he got cleared from them, he got back up, only to get face to face with a guy his age, with a flaming head. He said, "Hey, who are you?"

Zak became startled and ran for it, passing everyone he could, pushing, dodging, or shoving people out of his way. He ran until he saw a door and opened it, and closed it behind him as soon as he got in. However, he had run into what appeared to be a class to him, being taught by a silver haired blonde, dressed in white, and somewhat of a calm look on her face.

Emma saw him and simply said, "Good morning, Zachary." Zak nearly jumped out of his feet, but then she turned back to the class and said, "So I'd like your definition on Weak and Strong on Atrophic Principles by Next Monday. Class dismissed." After that, everyone got up from their desks and left the room, while passing a much confused Zak.

He turned to the silver blonde woman as she simply stated, "Ethics class." She then got up as she lightly walked forward to him and stopped ten feet away from him. She then smiled, "I'm Emma Frost, Head Mistress of the Xavier Institute. Would you like some breakfast?"

He shook his head but then asked, "Where exactly am I?" She answered, " Salem Center, New York." She then sat on top of one of the tables as she answered, "A student and advisor brought you here for medical attention after you were injured." Zak simply replied, still on the edge, "I'm fine, but thanks anyway."

It was then that he remembered the girl, Laura, and then asked, "Where is she?" Emma simply answered, "Laura? She's here and fine; she's just now taking her French class."

Just then, the door, opened behind Zak as two men walked in. One of them was wearing a red visor over his eyes, and the other one had somewhat of a wild hairstyle. She then smiled after seeing Scott and introduced them, "Mr. Walker I'd like you meet the Head Master of the Institute, Scott Summers, also called Cyclops.", she then pointed to Logan, "I'd also would like you to meet Laura's 'Brother' and your future advisor, Logan, also called Wolverine."

Scott brought out his hand to shake Zak's, but Zak didn't do so, so Scott pulled it back. Emma then stated, " Logan was the one who saved your life." Zak then turned to her and simply said, "Thanks, but no thanks. And about that whole advisor thing, I'm sorry but I don't stay in one place for very long."

"That's not entirely possible, young man.", Hank said as he walked into the room, a little worse for wear. Zak, being a little startled, was introduced to him by Emma, "I take it you've already met Dr. Hank McCoy, also called Beast." After a little confusion and a little silence, Scott answered, "You're in the School for Gifted Youngsters, Mr. Walker; you don't have to be afraid." Zak shot back, "Thanks, Shades, but I've seen scarier stuff down a sewage drain."

Emma simply answered before Scott and he went through a verbal fight, "What Scott means is, you'll be safe here from Kimura." Zak then looked a little shocked, hearing that name as he asked, "How do you know that name?" She simply answered, "From you actually. I also know that she was your, and Laura's, handler. From the Facility; the place that tried to turn you into a Mutant Slayer."

Zak was about to ask another question, but Emma simply answered, "Ever since we found out who was chasing you, I've been trying to find her. The creature that attacked you and Laura is a Mutant associate of hers called Beowulf."

Zak raised an eyebrow as he asked unbelievingly, "Beowulf?" the fact about all these codenames were getting a little annoying to him as he looked at Logan and pointed, "And Wolverine?" He sighed and looked at Emma, and asked, "So what do they call you here? The White Witch of Narnia?"

Emma gave him a glare as he chuckled, "This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I'm outta here." However, when he was about to leave, Emma said, "Zak. It's been nearly five years since you escaped. Moving from place to place, stealing just to survive. Trying to keep your immense power in check; in hoping you don't lose control, as does a Wildfire destroys everything in its path. Trying to find any evidence or remnance of any proof…that you have a family out there, waiting for you?"

Zak had a look of shock on his face, and anger; he sharply turned to Miss Frost, and growled, "Shut up!" Emma merely gave him a calm look as she stated, "Give us a chance. We might be able to help you in not just clearing charges of your crimes, but we might give you help in controlling your powers, and finding answers."

Zak had calmed down a bit, and wanting to know how she knew, he asked, "How do you know all this?" Then suddenly, she answered, without moving her mouth: _You're not the only one with gifts, Zachary._

Surprised by this, he looked to Scott, Logan, and finally McCoy as he looked back at Emma. Feeling a little calmer, he asked, "What is this place? Really?"

* * *

Emma led him out the classroom as she led him on a tour of the facility, showing him everything, from the school to the lower levels. As she did, she explained that to a Mutant, Anonymity was the first step for a Mutant's defense in the world. The Xavier Institute was founded for such a reason; for Mutants to learn to use their gifts in a positive and defensive way.

Cyclops, Beast, and a few others were the first to learn here by the founder, Charles Xavier. He protected them, taught them how to control and use their powers, and then later on, taught them to do the same for others. The students were brought here by families, either wanting or unwanting. Most of the students were runaways, frightened, alone, and some with gifts so extremely powerful that they'd become a danger to others and to themselves. But here they were; learning, being accepted, not feared.

It was during the tour, that Zak had a thought in mind. If these people were any different from the Facility, turning kids into Super Soldiers. So he decided to ask, "So after they learn, what'll happen to them?" Emma simply answered, "That's their choice here, Mr. Walker: Rejoin the world as educated young adults, or stay on and teach others. To become what the students had affectionately call, the X-Men."

Zak looked at her like she had lost her mind, but the Emma stated, "Yes, Mr. Walker, the name does sound ridiculous, but it is catchy." Zak looked at her wondering if she was reading his mind, but she did answer, '_Yes, Mr. Walker, I read your mind._' Zak just then said it out loud, "Okay, I don't care how smokin' hot you are lady. That's pretty creepy."

Ignoring the smoking hot comment, she then explained the reason for the X-Men, "You know Mr. Walker, there are mutants out there with greater powers than those that I and Scott have…and none that share Prof. Xavier's dream of a world united." Zak nodded at that; in most of his travels, he found a few like himself, but not too keen on the idea of Mutants and humans coexisting with each other.

Emma then finished by saying, "The X-Men are protectors of those that fear us. Because if no one will stand up to those who wish for a war between Mutants and Humans, then our days will be over."

* * *

**Head Master's Office**

* * *

Emma was sitting behind her desk while Scott stood up, and Zak was sitting at the other end of the table leaning back with one of his legs crossed over. It was then that Emma gave him a choice, "It's your choice, Zak. Whether you wish to stay here or not." 

Zak took a deep breath and then let it out; these people didn't seem like the Warmongering type, but he really didn't even know much about everyone. But then, he remembered that Laura lived and went here, so it couldn't be all that bad. He then crossed his arms as he asked, "So you're giving me a choice between if I want to stay and fight for peace. Or go out there and get caught by those who want me to fight for war."

After a little while to think it over, Zak gave them a cocky smirk and said, "Okay, I'll stay…for a while. Only because I hate war." Emma smirked at that and said, "Very well then, Mr. Walker, welcome to the Xavier Institute."

Outside, Laura was standing outside, and with her hearing, heard everything that they had said. She smiled at Zak's choice, but then her eyes were a little confused at what she thought. She shook her head, 'What is wrong with me? Why do I care if he stays or not?'

Logan, on the other hand, just stood afar and saw his 'Sister', waiting if the 'Matchstick' was gonna say yes or no. He half smirked as he thought, 'I guess she inherited my attraction ta redheads.'

* * *

**Next Chapter: A New Home: First Day**


	7. New Home

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers**

* * *

**Chapter 6: New Home; First Day **

* * *

**Xavier Institute**

**Sub-Lab **

* * *

Zak was back on the CAT scan table, with his jacket off and exposing his upper torso. Hank had asked him to do so in order to do a physically on his DNA and limits to his Mutation. Zak agreed to it, as long as it didn't involve him wearing one of those backless hospital gowns. Hank was currently setting up the equipment as he stated, "Okay, Zachary, I just need you to relax and let the machine do the rest." 

Zak lifted his head up and asked, "Uh, exactly what is this thing going to do?"

Hank merely said, "Well, if we're going to understand your mutation, this device will isolate your genomes to determine the extent of your abilities." Zak just had a clueless look on his face by that, but then Annie just answered, "What he means is that this device will X-Ray your genetics to see what's different."

Zak nodded, "Oh, well why didn't you say so?"

Hank merely replied, "I thought I did?"

Zak just shrugged as Annie left the room for a moment. It was then that Zak quirked out of fun, "So…she couldn't wait to see me without my shirt on, eh?"

Hank turned his head sharply at the boy, and inertly groaned. This boy was a bigger flirt than Roberto could have been. He then turned back to his work as the table that Zak laid on, slid into the CAT scanner. As Zak entered, Hank grumbled, "Oh, Logan's going to have quite the time dealing with him."

The machine hummed to life, as lights lit up over Zak, scanning him. Hank observed the screen as a display of Zak's X-Ray came up, and after that, his bio readings, which had Hank's jaw nearly drop to the ground as he saw the results. He looked at the results and spoke in a whisper, "Oh, my stars and garters."

* * *

**Observation Room **

* * *

Emma, Scott, Logan, Kitty, as well as the other staff members were present for what Hank had to show them. On a display screen big enough for everyone to see, it showed a diagram of Zak's bio-core and a display showing a radiant heat signature radiating in and out the body, and also showed a scan of the mutant's mind. It was probably imperative that Hank show them this, considering what had been done to the boy. 

Hank then began explaining the boy's phenomenal power, "Basically, he's a pyrokinetic, but there's more to him than we've realized." A blonde woman, dressed in an X-Men stylized teacher's uniform, Caucasian, slender but curvy, had blue eyes and long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She was Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla, Codename Magma, former member of the branch group called the New Mutants, and now teacher in the Xavier Institute. She asked, "What do you mean by that, Hank?"

He pointed at the cerebral X-Rays, showing Zak's brain patterns, "You see these brainwave patterns?" Everyone nodded as he continued, "Right here are where the safeties to his powers lie, but they've shown to be either completely shut off or non-existent. Which means his powers could be chartered to a Class Five, or Omega level, with no chance of ever being limited."

It was then that Kitty asked, "Wait a minute! You mean like Apocalypse level?" Hank shook his head, "No, more like Jean's level. It seems that Mr. Walker's mutation not only allows him to create and manipulate flame, but enough to reach Super Nova.", he then looked over to Amara, "He could very well be more powerful than you, Ms. Aquilla."

It was then that a Vietnamese woman with short hair, brown eyes, a kind face, slender and curvy, and dressed like a homeroom teacher, stepped up. Her name was Xi'an Coy Manh, Codename Karma, former member of the branch group called the New Mutants, and now teacher in the Xavier Institute as well.

She asked in an English yet French accent, "But how can he survive generating that much heat without burning up, Hank?"

Hank nodded at that as he replied, "Good question.", he then turned to the physical display of Zak's bio readings, and what appeared to be a microscopic layout of his skin. Hank then stated, "His mutation isn't just mental, it's also physical. His body's bio core can heat up to regulate the heat energies he can generate, but his vitals or organs remain impervious to the heat."

Logan then commented, "So his outside remains the same, but he's heating on the inside. Sounds like he can microwave himself without getting killed." Hank nodded, "That and his mutation also created a microscopic thin film made of little transparent plates, covering his skin on his entire body. This is what allows him to remain impervious to flame on the outside. When he activates his powers, his fat cells beneath his skin can create a clean nuclear fusion and jet out between the plates as heated plasma, which then ignites on contact with air. And that allows him to create the fire."

Scott them commented, "This doesn't sound like some random mutation." Hank nodded, "It isn't. Although the boy is no doubt one of us, his X-gene was altered to allow him to have unlimited power, and to survive off of it." This meaning that Zak's X-gene was genetically experimented on in order to turn him into some kind of Napalm weapon. It was then that Logan was getting the picture, seeing that they couldn't produce anohter Adamantium clawed mutant like him and Laura, they decided to go Super Mutant instead.

It was then that Logan asked iwht his arms crossed, "Did he say who did this to him?" Hank shook his head, "He didn't say Logan. Nor did he remember anything about the place, after he escaped." Emma studied the X-Rays and scans thoroughly as she walked up to them, "Genetic Experimentations on Mutants. I didn't think anyone would go this far…and on children no doubt."

It was then that she asked Scott, "Where's Mr. Walker now, Scott?" Scott adjusted his visor and said, "I think he's being shown to his new room…" Emma nodded, "That sounds right." Then Logan smirked as he knew what was about to come next as Scott continued, "…the Stepford Cuckoos are showing it to him."

Emma turned her head sharply to him, "What?" Hank then decided to point out, "Speaking for not only the mental and physical status, I'd also say that he might be too much of a flirt with some of the young ladies around here."

Emma then had a shocked look on her face as she shouted, "WHAT?"

* * *

**Boy's Dormitory**

**Room 112 **

* * *

Zak was led into and shown a room of his own by what he claimed to be as three 'beautiful blonde triplets'. They physically looked the same, short silverish blonde hair, Caucasian, slim but slender, very pretty, and each had the same set of blue eyes. From what he heard from Scott, they were called Celeste, Mindee, and Phoebe, the Stepford Cuckoos. From what he saw they were quite organized and coordinated at each other. It almost seem kind of eerie to him, but he still thought they were pretty hot. 

The three girls then said in unison, "And this will be your room; it's all yours until you get a roommate." Zak looked around as he checked everything out, and still couldn't get over the fact that he had a room of his own, for keeps this time.

It was then that Celeste, the one on the left, spoke up, "Breakfast is served in the glass house Cafeteria at 7:30…" Then Mindee spoke up, "…and after that, classes begin to start at 9:00 and end at 2:00…" and then lastly Phoebe spoke up, "..but you can get your class schedule made up and assigned from Miss Frost tomorrow as soon as you're done with breakfast."

Zak looked at them, a little creeped out at the fact that the three just said one complete sentence together. But then he quipped as he was looking into the bathroom, "So is that your special ability? Putting up with that woman?"

Phoebe, taking an interest in the young Pyrokinetic, smiled and answered, "Actually, we're of a Hive mind. We're each a powerful telepath, but when our minds are linked together…", Celeste and Mindee then spoke up, "…our power is even greater." Then Phoebe answered, "Though we often function….", "…and act as one unit, we are…", Mindee continued, and Celeste finished, "…indeed capable of thinking and operating individually."

Zak raised an eyebrow at the whole linked Hive mind thing, but the Telepathy thing sounded interesting, "Telepath? Like the Frost lady?" The three nodded as they said in unison, "Yes. We have the power to read people's minds; make them think or do what we want them to." Zak walked over to them and asked, "So you could read my mind?" Phoebe then smiled at him and answered, "If you want to, we can go inside your mind. And try to guess all your deepest, darkest, secrets or fantasies."

"There'll be no going inside anyone's mind, girls!"

The four teens turned in general, and saw at the open doorway, Miss Frost. The three triplets straightened up as they simply stated, "We're sorry, Miss Frost…we were just…" "Flirting with the new boy, Phoebe?", Emma asked her, but all three. Emma signaled the girls to leave as they hung their heads in shame and left, but not before Mindee pointed to Celeste, "I think Phoebe's developed a crush on the new guy." Celeste pointed out, "She must like his tight muscles."

After the three sisters left, Zak turned to a somewhat calm, but inner fuming Emma Frost. It was then that Zak asked, "I guess you'll be telling me to stay away from those two." Emma nodded, but then Zak replied, "Well, I can't help it if most girls think I'm…a little hot for them."

Emma then stated, "Well, try not to burn my girls, Mr. Walker." Zak raised his hands up in defense, "Don't worry, ma'am. If there's one thing scarier to me than that Facility, it's a mother's wrath when her daughter's heart's broken." Emma nodded at that as Zak was going to turn in, but then Emma stated, "Actually, it's not me you should be worrying. If you break one of their hearts, you break all their hearts, Mr. Walker."

Zak stopped and remembered that; those girls said their minds were linked to each other's. Then Frost stated, "Trust me, if you cheat on them, if you decide a relationship with one of them, all three of them will have you under the impression that you're a six year old girl."

Zak stopped and turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "They'd do that?"

Emma smirked, "I'd have Rachel braid your hair.", and then closed the door.

Zak sighed as he just plopped on his bed, thinking out loud before he slept, "Oh yeah, this place is much better than the Facility."

* * *

**Xavier Institute**

**Boy's Dormitory**

**Morning **

* * *

The sun's light peered through the window, and ran along near Zak's bed. It reached his face, causing a little irritation to him as he turned to the other side. As he was dozing, trying to get some sense of going back to sleep. However, those attempts had ceased at all once the alarm went off; Zak groaned, trying to find some sense of going to sleep again. It was then that he had had it, and just shot up. He looked at the camera with a half sleep stare, and his right hand came on fire, and he raised it above the clock. 

After a few seconds of hesitation, the flame dissipated, and slammed his fist on the OFF button, as he groaned, "You're not worth it."

He then threw the two blankets off of him and to the side, and got up and stretched. All he was wearing for pajamas was a pair of black sweatpants and nothing else. He scratched the back of his head as he looked around; he remembered the ordeal he had the night after, concerning the wolf creature that attacked him and the girl, Laura, which was with him.

After that, he was taken to this place for kids with powers, like his, and was given the chance to start over. However, he still felt like he couldn't trust them; he had bad experiences when it came to trust. He walked over to his closet to pick out an outfit for the day. However, when he opened it and saw the mirror on both ends of the doors, his face grimaced as he full awoke.

He saw on his back, a few electro burn scars on his back; they looked like they had been welded onto his back by a blind welder. He just grimaced as he grasped his left shoulder, remembering on how he acquired the scars in the first place.

He then hissed into the mirror, "You certainly had your share of fun, Kimura." He remembered how Kimura gave him them from tremendous whacks to the back…with an electronic tazer club. He shook it off, that was in the past, now things were different…but only for now; if things didn't go the way he liked…he would leave the school in a heartbeat.

But for now, he looked through the closet and saw that somehow he was expected to be here. He could tell, because the clothes matched his sense of style: Cool and Hot for teenagers.

* * *

**Cafeteria**

**Breakfast Time **

* * *

Zak had gotten out of his room after he showered and dressed and went to the cafeteria for his lunch. He was now dressed in clean blue jeans, a black skin tight turtle neck T-shirt, a flaming orange jacket with a hood on it halfway zipped up, and the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a pair of black and white sneakers. It felt pretty weird for him to be wearing clean and untorn clothes. He had always worn stuff that was either given to him from a homeless shelter for anything he could find from the trash. 

He then walked up and got his breakfast as he went to go and try to find a place to sit at. However, that was proving difficult, considering there weren't any empty seats inside. He shrugged and decided to eat outside; however, he wasn't ignored by everyone as a familiar raven haired fem fatale had kept an eye on him.

Laura was sitting at a table all by herself, just watching Zak go out towards the backyard of the campus. For some strange reason she couldn't take her eyes off him; for her this was irregular. Why was she acting like this around him; he was a flirt and a troublemaker from what she saw of him. Yesterday, after the tour, he went around, he was flirting around with any of the girls. After his examination yesterday, she found him playing with his fire powers by snapping his fingers together.

She looked at him sitting near the basketball court eating his breakfast all alone. She turned away as she muttered, "I hate him." She said to herself that she hated him, but she still couldn't tear her eyes from him.

* * *

**Head Master's Office **

* * *

After breakfast, Zak walked in to get his schedule. He knew that aside from what they taught him at the Facility in order to blend in, he had to get a real education, but not one that was forced down his throat. Emma handed him a piece of paper as she stated, "Here's your schedule for the semester; you'll be starting first thing today. I trust it lives up to your expectations?" 

Zak looked down at the schedule and decided if it was anything he'd regret:

Class Schedule

Mathematics: Mon, Wed at 9 AM

Flight Class: Mon, Wed at 10 AM

Energy Projectile Class: Mon, Wed at 12 AM

French Class: Tue, Thur at 8 AM

Computer Class: Tue, Thur at 11 AM

Martial Arts Class: Tue, Wed, and Thur at 1-3 PM

Arts Class: Wed at 1-3 PM

Zak looked it over twice as he stated, "It's okay, it's just that what's on Friday that I'm curious about. Why is it there's no class on that day?" Emma simply shrugged, "After the end of January, you and every other student will know. You'll all be assigned the same class after a while." Emma then signaled him to leave, "And I think you should be going now, Mr. Walker. As I recall, you have a schedule to keep up. Miss Manh will be teaching your class." Zak nodded and got up. He then left the room to head for the class.

* * *

**French Class **

* * *

Zak was introduced to the class by Miss Manh who was pretty nice to him. And he was then asked to take a seat down there after he introduced himself to everyone. He was sitting next to him was a male student named Max Jordan, a fifteen year old tan brown student. His eyes were sort of orange, slim but a little muscle to him; however, his whole body was covered in porcupine quills instead of where his head hair, body hair, and facial hair. From what he heard, this guy should shoot his quills like high-speed projectiles. He also this guy was some kind of joker, so he was always causing something for a laugh. 

Behind him was another student named Victor Borkowski, a sixteen year old like him. His mutant powers were physical considering his skin was green and his hair was a spiked carapice. From what he saw of this guy, Victor had a prehensile and elastic tongue, the ability to stick to solid surfaces, enhanced agility, and the ability to camouflage himself, blending into his surroundings. He also heard that some kid thought he was gay, but Victor cleared that whole thing out.

Miss Manh then started the lesson as everyone settled down, "Okay, class, today we'll begin where we left off…" just then, the door opened to reveal Laura coming in. Manh crossed her arms as she stated, "Laura. You know you can't have Danger Room sessions, if it affects your attendance."

Laura bowed her head to her respectfully and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Manh." Manh then motioned to her desk, "Okay, then please sit down." Laura walked over to her desk, but then stopped in shock. Manh raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Something wrong, Laura?"

She then looked at her and pointed at her table, "Why is he sitting next to me?" she pointed and showed that Zak was sitting right next to her. Manh shrugged, "Sorry, but we're short on sitting space, so you'll just have to do for now." Laura frowned, and she just sat down next to him, with him not even noticing her one bit.

The lesson began once more as Manh started to write on the chalkboard. However, as Zak was turning his attention elsewhere, he caught sight of Laura sitting next to him. He went wide eye, seeing her again here. He smiled and whispered to her, "Hey, Laura."

She slightly twitched at when she called her name, but ignored him, thinking he was completely rude. He raised an eyebrow, almost certain that she was the Laura he met. So he tried again, "You are Laura, right? The one with the metal claws in your hands and feet?"

She just tried and ignored him as after the first two tries didn't work. He huffed at his failed attempts; there was just no way to get her attention, and unknown to them, they were sort of drawing a crowd. Especially from Julian Keller's group as well as David Alleyne's group.

Laura, seeing this, ignored him even more as she started to scowl a little. She closed her eyes, wishing he would just ignore her, 'Why is he being this rude to me?'

Then Zak, finally having enough of this, reached out, and grabbed a lock of Laura's hair, pulling her towards his direction. Surprised by this, Laura went a little wide eye at this action as Zak asked out loud, "Why are you giving me the cold shoulder act, Laura?"

* * *

**After Class **

* * *

Zak was sitting outside, sulking with his arms crossed. It was after he yelled out, Miss Manh had put him detention on Saturday, after she threw an eraser at his head to catch his attention. He huffed at himself for this, "Sheesh, it's all her fault. All I was trying to do is say Hi to her and she just blows me off like some kind of..." 

"Newbie?"

Zak looked up to see who it was that spoke up to him, and saw a boy around his age, Caucasian, with short black hair sticking up, brown eyes and had a cocky smirk. Behind him was a kid, probably older, seven foot tall and 54 inches wide, muscular and made completely out of rock. He heard about these guys from some of the students; the cocky grin guy was named Julian Keller, a powerful telekinetic, and his right hand buddy, Santos Vaccarro, a mutant whose body was completely transformed into solid granite.

Zak just got up as he stated, "Suddenly, the area doesn't seem as pleasant anymore." He then proceeded to walk away, only to walk into a telekinetic wall; he turned towards Julian as he stated, "Alright, what do you want? The other students say you've got a bad rep for causing trouble." Julian smirked, "Yeah, and I think you're well on your way on that road too."

Zak just asekd out of annoyance, "so what do you want?" Julian then said, "Well, my advisor, Miss Frost, said a lot of interesting things about you…" zak raised an eyebrow, "Really? Like what?" Julian shrugged, "oh, I don't know…" then suddenly, Julian shot Zak up in the air, in a bubble of telekinetic energy as Julian smirked at this, "…about you being a Mutant Slayer."

Zak was trying to get out fo the bubble or at least cause a fire burst. But before he tried it, Julian smirked, "I wouldn't start a fire, Burnout-Boy. There aint enough air in there for you to start one and breathe at the same time." He hate to admit it, but the stupid cocky dork was right; there wasn't enough air to do both, as he saw he was in a pickle.

Then before Julian could do anything, a snikt sound was heard near his belt side. Julian and Santos turned to the right to see what that was, and they saw Laura, holding her left claws up to Julian…below his belt. Not wanting to provoke a fight, Julian popped the bubble, that sent Zak falling downward on the ground.

He then nudged Santos to leave, but not before giving out a word of warning to both of them, "This isnt over yet, Mutie Killers. You better watch your backs. Because once the squads are formed, it's on!" after that was said, they were out of sight.

As Zak got up, he noticed Laura resheathed her claws back in and was about to walk away. Zak, however, wasn't about to let her go that easily; she had ignored him all day and out of the blue, she came to his rescue. As he caught up to her, he lightly grabbed her shoulder and said, "Hey, wait a minute! Laura!" she sharply turned to him and simply asked harshly, "What?"

He had HAD it with her; she was determined to protect him yesterday, now this day she was completely ignored him. He had to know what was going on with her, "Look, Laura…yesterday, you were risking your life to save mine. So why the cold shoulder?"

She lowered her head, and for some strange reason, didn't reply with an answer, "I don't know what you…" he then got into her face, "Laura, look. I know I sometimes act like the playboyish scoundrel, but…", he scratched his head, trying to make a good answer for his attitude.

Then Laura simply said, with a little disappointment in her voice, "Look, I know it's your way of acting like a scoundrel. You probably had tons of girls you've made out with."

"That's what I'm trying to say.", Zak said to her, understanding her attitude to him. "I only flirt with them; I don't slobber all over them like any other perverted playboy." Laura seemed a little confused by this, but let him go on.

"It's just that...I've played the part of a scoundrel for so long, I don't even know what the real me was. When I'm like this, I don't have any of the insecurities or normal fears that I have as anyone else who's afraid of the power they have in them. No one knows me as a major worry wart, and I can say things I normally wouldn't."

He then looked at her with a half smile, "It's...a type of freedom I guess. An ability to do and say things and not have to worry about the consequences."

"So...you really didn't mean what you said to those girls?" Laura asked him, still not sure of believing it.

"Yeah I didn't.", he answered with a sad smile; "I just thought you should know about it, since I saw how hurt you were." Zak said, in a kindly tone to his only friend at the Institute. "Well...we should go back inside the school. I think we still have classes to take."

"Oh, yeah, I've gotta go too." As they went to go back inside, Laura stopped and lightly grabbed him by his right arm. "Zak?" He stopped and turned to look at her, as she simply replied to him with a shy smile and a little blush, "Thank you."

A little surprised by the smile, Zak flashed her a smile and nodded, "Thank you, Laura…for being my first friend".

As they both got inside, Laura didn't know why, but she felt a lot better now. For the two of them, not only was this day the best school day for them, but they didn't know that their group of friends would become bigger.

* * *

**Profile for Zak Walker, Codename: Wildfire

* * *

**

**Name**: Zachary 'Zak' Walker

**Known Aliases**: MX-113

**Codename**: Wildfire

**Identity**: Secret

**Occupation**: Student

**Citizenship**: U.S.A

**Place of Birth**: Unknown; somewhere in Canada

**Marital Status**: Single

**Known Relatives**: Unknown

**Group Affiliation**: Xavier Institute/ Slingers Training Squad, formerly part of Weapon Plus Program. Genetic Experimentation Program.

**Education**: Currently in High School level classes

**History**: Growing up without any compassion or without a family, Zachary was raised in the Genetic Experimentation Program of the Weapon X Program, also called Weapon Plus. His X-Gene was altered to allow his powers to be both physical and mental; allowing him to become a powerful mutant. His mutant abilities were forced out by several sessions with severe electrical shocks. He was trained to become an assassin, as was X-23 at the time, but before he was sent on his first assassination mission, before he was forced to kill at the age of eleven, the complex blew up under strange circumstances. The only one who was known to escape was MX-113, otherwise known as Zak Walker, given the codename, Wildfire.

For the past five years, he had survived by stealing and fencing for money, just enough to get a room and food. And to find a way out of the country from the ever pursuing Facility.

It was during this, he made his way to New York a year ago and after a robbery at a museum, came into contact with another escapee, Laura Kinney, AKA X-23. And after a run in with an old associate, Beowulf, was brought into the Xavier Institute, where he was offered a place to stay, and answers to help him find the one thing he had been seeking more than just

He often appears incompetent, but it is mostly a disguise, hiding a serious and complex personality, and a cool thinking head. While Zak is a scoundrel, he's a scoundrel with a heart, and hates injustice with a passion. He also shows a chivalrous streak that compels him to help those less fortunate than him (especially if it's a pretty lady!). Zak also fancies himself a ladies man, although his success in that department is dubious at best. Particularly with Laura, whom he can't seem to stop blushing when she gets close to him.

Later on he will be given the toughest responsibility when the squads are formed. Whatever it is, his friends will be there to support him with it, as will Laura. And will change him into the adult he was meant to be.

**Age**: 16

**Sex**: Male

**Height**: 5 '9"

**Weight**: 157 lbs.

**Hair**: Flaming Red (later on with Yellow Streaks)

**Eyes**: Brown

**Likes**: Drawing, Spicy Foods, Riding Motorcycles

**Dislikes**: Losing control of his powers, Being alone, Being Backstabbed

**Superhuman Powers**: Wildifre's X-gene was altered before birth; enhancing his latent abilities, can create and manipulate fire, both mentally and physically. He can direct this flame as a blast of superheated plasma, or manipulate it for various shapes, temperatures, or effects. He can absorb flame into his body, or extinguish ambient flame at will. He can control, project, and absorb extreme heat (Plasma flame) and flame from most parts of his body. Can rocket himself through the air by blasting flame from his feet, and do the same to cushion his landing. And can ride on a column of flame, or a surfboard of flame. When in a certain Body Flame mode, similar in appearance as to a certain character named Heatblast (from Ben 10) his power is at its unlimited power, and has sufficient ambient heat to vaporize projectiles that approach him. Wildfire has been observed to nearly vaporize rocks, bottles, bullets, and even steel girders in fractions of a second; yet this ambient heat does not extend beyond his body, or ignite objects in proximity to him.

The uppermost level of Wildfire's power is Super Nova, while in his Flame body mode, which is usually released omni-directionally and reaches temperatures of 2,000 Kelvin. Any level lower than this cannot burn him; however, it can be difficult to control for him. This effect can occur spontaneously when he absorbs an excessive amount of heat into his body although he can momentarily suppress the release when necessary with considerable effort. Wildfire can also direct beams of Flame Blasts as an offensive weapon for very brief periods of time before his heat energy gives out.

His body's bio core can heat up to regulate the heat energies he can generate, but his vitals or organs remain impervious to the heat. His mutation also created a microscopic thin film made of little transparent plates, covering his skin on his entire body. This is what allows him to remain impervious to flame on the outside. When he activates his powers, his fat cells beneath his skin can create a clean nuclear fusion and jet out between the plates as heated plasma, which then ignites on contact with air. And that allows him to create the fire.

He still holds the occasional weakness of water and lack of oxygen to keep his flame burning. It will take half an hour for him to regain a burst of flame when wet. If thrown in sub-zero degree water, his body temperature rises, but if exposed for more than an hour, it could kill him.

Another weakness is that the safeties to his powers lie are completely shut off or non-existent. Meaning his powers could be chartered to a Class Five, or Omega level, with no chance of ever being limited. This proves a danger for him, seeing that he has yet to master control of a huge fiery power, causing him to burn anything in his path, without his control.

**Voted**: Biggest Scoundrel

* * *

**Next Chapter: Shadow Hoppers; the Nightlocks**


	8. Shadow Hopping pt 1

**Note: the form for the next mutant, Ian Garnett, was taken from the Stealth Mode of Alter Echo. I just saw a lot of potential from that form is all. I don't own Alter Echo, but I really liked the form so I used it as the concept for Ian's first use of the Darkforce power.**

* * *

**New X-Men; Academy X: The Slingers

* * *

**

**Chapter 7: Shadow Hopping; the Nightlocks pt. 1

* * *

****Chicago, Illinois**

**Afternoon

* * *

**

The streets of Chicago were as busy as ever; people heading for their jobs, cars and buses were running towards their destination, and kids and teens heading to school from their lunch break. On one stop next to a drive in McDonalds, a group of teens were standing on for their bus to arrive to take them back to school. There were kids of teenaged age, but there was one in particular.

He was black, seventeen years of age, and physically built to be a basketball player. He had short hair that almost made him look bald, and calm black eyes. He wore a white head band, a red and white Jersey shirt with a white T-shirt underneath, and white and black baggy sweat pants, and black sneakers. He also was carrying a black and blue backpack with him with several sport insignias on the back of it. His name was Ian Garnett, and today, his life would change for the better…or for the worse.

The public bus stopped right at them as the first wave of students got on. When Ian neared the door and got on the stairs to get on, a sudden pain shot in his head as he doubled over. He nearly went over on his knees in pain, clutching his head as he slightly groaned. One of the students behind him asked, "You okay." For Ian, the pain disappeared as he groaned a little, half smirking, "Don't worry about it. Just a recurring headache…it always passes like after you eat a bean burrito with extra guacamole sauce." The student asked, "You sure?"

"Hey, you kids!", the bus driver yelled at them, "Get a move on. I've got a schedule to keep, here." Ian had finally gotten up as he walked on to the middle of the bus. However, it was then that his headache became much worse as he doubled over in even more pain again. This time, the bus driver got up and walked over to Ian, "Listen, kid. Take you meds and sit…" but before he could finish, Ian shot up and screamed out in pain.

Then suddenly, his eyes opened up to reveal them to be glowing light purple as a strange black liquid like substance covered his body. His whole form was shrouded in what appeared to be some form of Dark substance, but then it took shape, forming a humanoid body of some sort. His forearms were bigger, accompanied by two clawed fingers and thumbs, his calves were shaped almost canine and bigger too, with two clawed toes, and on his back were four tendril like structures that reached to his ankles and waved like they were alive. His head didn't look human anymore as it seemed more insect-like with four curved sharp spikes sticking up at the sides of his head; there was no mouth but the head was shaped almost in a diamond oval form, with three diamond-shaped light purple glowing eyes. On his back, shoulders, ankles, and on the back of both his hands was a diamond shaped crystal colored light purple that glowed.

Ian felt the pain go away, but then heard people scream out in sheer fright. A girl with glasses shouted, "It's a mutant!" And with that, sheer panic happened as everyone tried to scramble out of the bus. Ian looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, until he saw the bus driver, scared as ever. He got back on his feet, and walked toward him, "Hey, man, what's goin' on here?"

The bus driver then took off, shouting, "Get back! MONSTER!" And with that, was gone with everyone else. Ian looked confused but ticked by this, "Monster? Is that a new racial slur they given out now, or is…?" He walked up to the rear view mirror, and got a good look at himself. He was in shock as he recoiled back, "Wha…what happened…" but then strangely, a black and purple hole opened up behind him, and he fell right into it.

In the Chicago downtown area, another black and purple hole opened up, and Ian fell out of it, landing on one of the buildings rooftops. He groggily got back up, still in his dark form, and looked around. Seeing where he was, he asked himself as he looked at his clawed hands, "Wh…What's happening to me?"

Unknown to him, in the shadows near the roof entrance, a person, no older than him, dressed in a trench coat with a hood, sunglasses, scarf, and combat boots and black pants watched him. He had sensed his powers waking up and now was the time when they had been fully activated.

Ian kept looking at himself, trying to figure out a way to reverse or cure himself, "I can't do this on my own. I gotta get help." Then suddenly, someone tackled him behind at light speed, shoving them both off the roof. The figure stated as they fell, "Help is here, Mutant."

They began to fall towards the abandoned alleyway; Ian was yelling for dear life, "YOU LUNATIC! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" The figure then calmly stated, "Not if you use your powers." Ian thought he had lost his mind but the figure quickly stated, "Just focus. Try and focus your ability to alter the Dark Matter, and create a portal under us." Ian thought it was hopeless, but went for it. He tried to focus with all his might, trying to find a trigger to it. Then suddenly, as they were nearing the ground, a black hole opened up at them, and they fell right into it, with the hole closing behind them.

After that, all Ian could see before he blacked out was a pair of glowing yellow animal eyes.

* * *

**Later On

* * *

**

Ian stirred a little on a cold concrete and porcelain floor, littered with garbage. He had prayed that whatever happened to him on the bus was all just a dream, but as he got up, and spotted a broken discarded dressing mirror nearby, he realized it was no dream. He was still the black alien version of that mutant Nightcrawler, only with a few humanoid distinctions of even remotely looking human. He moaned to himself as he brought up a three clawed hand to his alien insect like face. Even without a mouth, he still groaned, "Oh man, I knew it was too good to be a dream."

"And why would it be a dream?", spoke out the same voice that tackled him from before.

Ian turned around to see who it was, and saw that from the looks of it, it was an abandoned subway station underground. Near the tracks was a stationed and abandoned subway car, along with four different figures. The first one, he recognized without the hood, sunglasses and scarf. He was Caucasian, nineteen years old, lean and slim build, with orange spiky hair, and had the strangest pair of yellow animal eyes ever.

The one next to him was a girl, Caucasian with short purple hair with two bangs loose, around fifteen, slim but slender, wearing a lavender long toga like skirt, a tank top that exposed her navel, two gold bracelets on her wrists, and had only one strap that was on her right shoulder. And uniquely she had a pair of purplish angel like wings on her back, making her look like an angel…a fallen angel down in the dark.

Next to her seem like some crazy looking Caucasian Asian boy with slicked back black hair, with a small goatee on his chin. He was dressed in a black and red stylish Chinese battle gi, with baggy pants, red and one black stripe going down vertically. The upper shirt, with his chest bandaged up and his upper shirt, long but baggy sleeves with the black trim to it, and a tiger stripe going down at the shoulders, with black sandal shoes and white socks. He seemed to be juggling what appeared to be Electric Blue energy balls.

On the orange haired one's right, a big black girl, seventeen, slim but muscular build, was bigger than the others; by the orange haired boy's height, around three inches taller. She was wearing a black tube top, khaki pants with black combat boots, a dark green headband, and wearing a dark brown trench coat, and shades as well. The odd thing about her was that on her skin were veins protruding and connecting, making it look like her skin was made of granite.

Ian took a step back as he asked, "Who are you people? Why am I here?" The orange haired boy smirked as he stated proudly, "Where you are is Haven. You were lucky I was in the neighborhood." He then started to walk towards Ian as he went on, "As for whom we are, we're family. I'm somewhat of the father figure and a collector of Mutants."

He then stopped right in front of Ian as they were both face to face, and the orange haired one smirked as he stated, "Mutants…like you." Ian's three diamond shaped eyes carried on a look of shock and regret. He had become what most people he heard that hate and fear most of all. Freaks, Monsters, Mutants, and he had become one of them. He felt his whole world crumble down around him as he felt like he had sunk into more darkness than the one that surrounded his body.

* * *

**One Week Later**

**Xavier Institute

* * *

**

The room looked like some huge Japanese dojo, in the daylight as rays of sunlight poured in the paper windows. Walking into the middle of the room, Laura was coming in, barefooted; wearing black gi pants with a black cloth belt around her waist, and a black gi shirt, but underneath her chest was bandaged, much like they would when training. She looked around the room, trying to smell or hear where they would strike…where he would strike.

She knelt on the ground, and placed her left hand on the ground, listening carefully for any sudden movements. Then suddenly, she jumped forward as a flame blast hit the area she was in. She turned around and then out charged Zak, in red gi pants and just a white tank top. He was also sporting with him; two flame-generated dual broadswords, Chinese style.

He charged at her with a few good slashes, both swords moving as one. However, she dodged by flip-jumping over him, but didn't expect him to turn around and catcher her by the shoulder sleeve with one of the swords. It didn't go through her, but went through the sleeve as she pulled away, tearing the sleeve shoulder. The two just stared at each other, until Laura balled her fists up and shot out her claws. She charged at him, but then jumped up with a round house kick. Zak got into a right hand stance to prepare the block, but what he didn't expect was for her to shoot out her foot claw as she was about to kick him.

Luckily, his feet erupted in a jet-like flame propulsion away from her, just as she landed on the ground with her foot claw embedded in it. The claw went back in and she got back up, only to dodge a barrage of fire blasts coming from Zak as he punched them forward to her. She continued to back away until she hit the wall of the dojo; she turned to see Zak charging at her with a flamed fist, about to give her the finishing blow.

However, she saw this and at the last minute, sheathed out her hand and feet claws, and back flipped up on the wall. Zak's fist slammed into the wall, a massive explosion of flame nearly blowing a hole into it. As soon as it died out, Zak stepped back and looked up, seeing Laura climb up it with her claws as cleats. He raised an eyebrow as he gave her half a smile, "So what are you supposed to be now, Spider-Girl?"

Then with a snikt sound, she fell back down to Earth, right behind Zak, and grabbed him by his shirt collar, flipping him over her. She slammed him into the ground on his back as he grunted, and then she got on top of him, with her right claws at his eyes. Zak looked up as he saw Laura to what appeared to him, to be a smirk, and she asked, "Game Over?"

Zak nodded, "Yeah, just whatever you do…don't get up."

Laura looked a little confused but got up anyway, and in the process, caused her gi shirt to come off. She looked surprised by this but got a good glimpse at her gi jacket; the back had been burnt slightly as it was enough to cause it to tear and slip off. She was actually impressed by this; he was actually able to plant an attack at her backside, but he didn't push it to be fatal, just enough to burn the gi shirt.

Zak got up and smirked at his accomplishment, but subconsciously he wished she didn't have her chest bandaged like that. He may not have had a perverted smile on his face, but Laura could tell just what he was thinking by body movement alone. She scowled as she crossed her arms around her chest and growled, "You're a complete perverted scoundrel."

Zak looked surprised as he got up, "Scoundrel?" He picked up the shirt and walked towards her. She didn't like the smirk he was giving her, it made her feel…strange. She knew this was how he acted, but for some strange reason, he seemed to be playing the scoundrel role on her…on purpose now. He stopped a few inches at her, but then draped the shirt around her, smirking, "I like the sound of that."

It was then that she felt a strange, uncomfortable feeling in her chest, as she looked worried, "Please, stop."

Zak looked a little confused, "Stop what?"

She replied, "Stop doing whatever you're doing."

Zak couldn't help but notice that she was trembling for some strange reason, and she was blushing. He couldn't help but be surprised; the girl who fought him at the museum, the same one that clawed the heck out of that mutant, Beowulf, and the one that was glaring daggers at him…she was actually getting nervous around him.

He smirked as he asked, "Come on, what are you afraid of?"

She looked worried, now that he was closer to her, "Afraid?"

"You're trembling."

"No, I'm not."

The two then noticed they were closer than they were a few inches ago. Zak didn't know about it now but he closed his eyes as he closed in to Laura, nearly closing a gap between their lips; Laura did the same, not knowing either, but still trembled as she could feel him getting closer. It may have been something that she had done when she used to work for Zebra Daddy, but this…this feeling in her was something that she didn't feel before…something born anew in her. Their lips were almost close until a familiar voice was in the air.

"Am I interruptin' somethin'?"

Zak and Laura suddenly went bug eyed as the stepped away from each other, almost about to do whatever they were instinctively about to do, and saw Logan, standing at the entrance of the automatic door. The dojo disappeared digitally as what was left was a huge metallic room, big enough to almost be tent size. This was the Danger Room, an official training area of the X-Men. Laura was given permission to use it and had asked Zak for a sparring match, mostly to win from making up from that loss on the day in the museum.

Logan had his arms crossed as the two teens just looked away from each other, blushing from embarrassment. He then asked them with a raised eyebrow, "So you two done with your fight?" Laura nodded and then turned and left, going past Logan and dropping out of sight. Logan turned to Zak and Zak just nodded and began to walk out, "Nothing happened, Mr. Logan."

But before he left, Logan lightly grabbed him by his right shoulder and said, "Kid…", He and Zak then went eye to eye as Logan spoke up, "…Laura ain't accustomed to have a boy close to her like that. She's a little confused about how she feels, so don't be doin' anything that she'll regret doin' later on. Okay?"

Zak nodded, but before he left, he said, "I wouldn't hurt anyone…not even Laura, Mr. Logan." He then turned and was about to walk out but Logan then said, "And by the way…just call me Logan. 'Mr.' just makes me sound old." Zak nodded and then just left. Logan saw the boy's retreating form and then just mumbled, "Yeah…you're not the type to hurt anyone."

* * *

**Cerebra

* * *

**

Compared to most of the rooms in the mansion, Cerebra was one of the most unique. It was a big round room, the walls all lined up with rectangular metal plates all around it. But in one corner was a platform with a control console and helmet connected to it. This was the system that allowed monitoring and tracking down mutants. Emma Frost was preparing to locate someone…someone she had been tracking for over a week now.

The Stepford Cuckoos were with her as well, standing in separately across one another forming a diamond shape in the center. Frost figured that with their help, the search for this mutant, Mr. Ian Williams, would go a lot faster. Then suddenly, Zak walked in with the door opening, dressed in his casual blue jeans, black turtleneck T-shirt, flaming orange hooded jacket, and black and white sneakers.

Phoebe turned and smiled, "Zak, what brings you to Cerebra?" Zak shrugged as he looked around the room, "I was always wondering what was behind the door.", he then got a good look around and stated, "…and all I see is a big, round room."

Emma then spoke up as she placed on the Cerebra helmet to prepare for the search, "Tell me, Mr. Walker, what do you know about being a Mutant?" Zak sighed as he crossed his arms, "Aside from the fact that we're not all the same." Emma smirked and simply explained, "The brainwaves of Mutants are different from ordinary human beings. This room and device amplify a Telepath's powers to allow us to locate mutants and humans from anywhere on the planet."

Zak then raised an eyebrow as he asked, "If this thing can do that, then why haven't you used it to find Kimura?" Emma turned back at the console, "I've been trying to, but they seem to somehow found a way to block it." Just then, the doors closed behind Zak, and he sighed, "Uh, do you want me to leave?"

Emma nodded, "You can stay…just don't move." Zak nodded and just stood there, as the machine hummed to life. When that happened, the Stepford Cuckoos eyes opened and they glowed a bluish white as the room expanded and got darker. Then suddenly, the whole room became one black and grey map of the whole world; Zak's jaw hung open as he saw this, as little white lights popped up all over the map. Emma smirked as she explained, "These lights represent every living person on the planet. These white lights are the humans..."

And then suddenly, dozens of red lights appeared as the white ones faded, "…and the red dots are the mutants. You see, Zak? We're not as alone as you think." Zak answered, still in a daze, "No I didn't think we're alone…I just didn't know there'd be so many of us."

He then turned to her and asked, "So what are you looking for?" Emma explained that there was a mutant that just appeared and that for the past week, she had been searching for him. She also mentioned the mutant's movements were a little erratic, seeing as how he kept jumping and always staying out of sight. Zak then asked, "Well if he's been hard to track down, why don't you just concentrate harder then?" Emma raised an eyebrow, not taking her eyes off the screen, "If I wanted to kill him, then yes."

Zak grimaced at that, but stopped as the Cuckoos said in unison, "There. He's stopped in Chicago." It was then that Cerebra had stopped and the machine hummed down as everything returned to normal. Emma got up and placed the helmet on the table as she turned and left with the Stepford Cuckoos, but not before Zak asked, "So now what?"

Emma stopped and turned to him, answering, "Now, Logan Scott, and perhaps Laura will be going there to see if they can find and ask him to join the school." Zak then brought his hands behind his head as he began to walk out, "Great. I'll go with them and…" Emma stated, "You can't leave the school, Mr. Walker. It's just the opportunity for the Facility to reacquire you. And I also seem to remember you have detention."

Zak stopped as he was out of Cerebra and frowned, and turned to Emma as he stated, "Yeah, but Laura told me she was with the Facility, and they're probably after her too." Emma crossed her arms stating, "True, but they're not after her…you're their target, Mr. Walker."

Zak just fumed as he started to walk back to the Boy Dorms, but stopped as he turned and asked, "By the way, did you mention to that snot, Julian Keller that I was a Mutant Slayer? Because that was the main reason why he and his rocky right hand tried to suffocate me a week ago."

Emma simply shrugged and stated calmly as ever, "He merely asked about you and I told him you were forced to become a Mutant Slayer…he was the one to assume that you killed Mutants." Zak arched an eyebrow as the Cuckoos left, "Do you think I could?"

She shook her head as she left and answered, "No, because you don't believe in killing is the answer to solve a problem." But before she dropped out of sight, Zak asked, "Julian mentioned something about forming squads. What's that about, Miss Frost?"

She merely replied, "You'll find out after the month's over."

* * *

**Later On**

**Chicago, Illinois

* * *

**

The day was nice and sunny, even though it was at an abandoned factory to where the X-Jet landed. Not wanting to cause a riot or a crowd, Scott and Logan landed in the most isolated and unnoticed area they could find. Laura, who was wearing a plain white T-shirt, black jeans, combat boots, her leather jacket and her locket choker and was sitting in the passenger seat, got up as she asked Logan, "So how do we track him...Mr. Ian Tarnet, right?". Logan nodded and responded, "Well if he's most of the students on how they act, he'd probably run away and be all confused about who and what he is now."

Then Cyclops answered, "So the best bet is to check out his home. Maybe his family might know where he would go." As soon as they were almost out of the jet after switching on the Stealth cloak to the X-Jet, Laura had picked up a whiff of something. She stopped sniffing around; Logan caught this as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's the hold up?"

She walked over to one of the storage lockers for their uniforms, and opened the door. And by surprise, Zak fell out of it and on the floor. He looked up to Scott, Logan, and Laura, and sheepishly responded, "Hey fellas, what's up?" Scott crossed his arms as he asked, "Didn't we have a deal that you would stay at the Institute until we could sort out the Facility problem?"

Zak got up and brushed himself off, "Yeah, but you didn't say I could go without an escort. So if I'm with you guys, I'll be okay, besides, you might need another voice of reasoning for this guy, or someone who could light places up for you."

Cyclops looked to Logan, who simply shrugged, and to Laura who simply nodded in approval at this. Sighing in defeat, Scott pointed to Zak sternly and stated, "When we get back to the Institute, you and I are going to have a little chat."

After that was said, the two adults began to walk towards the location to the target's home. Zak sighed as Laura patted him on the shoulder, "Sorry." He then just smirked at Laura saying, "Hey, it was worth it to get out of that stuffy place."

* * *

**Ever-Terrace St

* * *

**

The four had made their way to where they needed to go; with the exception of Logan and Scott wearing civilian clothes, no one seemed to even care about who they were or even knew. All the four needed to do was reach the home of Ian Garnett, and they did as they stood in front of it.

Where they stood was a house of two stories like any other; it was a nice and quaint place in a nice neighborhood. Despite the fact that it was in Chicago, it was still unaffected by crime whatsoever. It was then that Zak asked, "So how are we gonna do this?" Scott simply said, "We'll just go and ask to see if she knows where he is."

They walked right up to the door, and knocked on it, but then Zak asked, "And what exactly are we gonna say who we are?" The two X-Men looked at each other and knew that would be a problem. If the boy's mother knew that he was a Mutant, she would definitely take it negatively. But before they could come up with a valid explanation for the mother, the door opened to reveal Mrs. Garnett.

She was a woman around in her thirties or forties, with long hair tied back into a ponytail, wearing a blue blouse and a dark blue skirt, white shoes and a pearl necklace. She was a little surprised as she asked, "Yes? Who are you?" But before any of the boys said anything, Laura stepped up and smiled, "Good evening, Mrs. Garnett. We're with the Neighborhood watch, and were hoping to ask you about your son, Ian."

It was then that she became teary eyed as she asked her, "Have you seen Ian? Do you know where he could be?" The four looked at each other in surprise by this as Scott stepped up and asked, "You mean you don't know?" Mrs. Garnett nodded and answered, "My son hasn't been home in a week. It was on the last day that I saw him leave for school, we were arguing about his grades."

It was then that Scott asked if they could go inside and talk about this and Mrs. Garnett agreed to do so.

Inside, the two gentleman were sitting down with the two teens going up to inspect Ian's room for 'clues'. It was after that she generously gave Logan and Scott some coffee, which she sat down and explained. She was a widow, caring for two sons, her teenaged son, Ian, and his ten-year-old brother, Virgil. Ian had been trying to find work to pay for the family in order to help his mother with her job. There was barely any time for him to do his school or to play for his basketball grades. One night they were arguing about them, causing much friction between them. It was on the day that they argued again, that Ian had begun gaining strange headaches, and a week ago, he disappeared.

Mrs. Garnett covered her face with her hands, trying to hide away the tears, "Maybe I was too hard on him. He stormed off on the day that he went missing." It was then that Logan took a sip and calmly stated, "Look, I'm sure he didn't leave 'cause of that, 'mam." Then she looked up at them and asked, "Then why would he disappear like that?"

Scott simply shrugged, "I wish we knew Mrs. Garnett."

* * *

**Ian's Room

* * *

**

The room was a little messed up, but from what could be said about it, it was littered with all sorts of Basketball memorabilia, even a few videos and DVDs of some sporting events. Zak was looking around the room, while Laura was trying to find something that could give off a scent from him. It was then that Zak commented, "Quite the Chicago Bulls fan, ain't he?"

Laura turned to him and asked, "What do bulls have to do with sports?" Zak raised an eyebrow as he asked her, "When was it you escaped the Facility?" She replied, "Three years ago. I didn't spend much time learning about sports." Zak went with shock as he asked, "You mean, you never even watched a game?"

It was then that she had found what he needed to sniff, one of Ian's hats, and sniffed, "Didn't have time." She then got up and stated, "I've got his scent now; it should be enough to find him now." She and Zak then walked out of the room, with them going down the stairs but not before Zak said, "When we get back to the school, I'm teaching you how to play."

After they had said their goodbyes, Mrs. Garnett asked one thing from Laura and Zak, "Please, if you find Ian, tell him to come home." Laura nodded and they were off.

* * *

**Night

* * *

**

The four mutants had started their search for the missing Ian Garnett. However, in the best chance of finding him, Scott made the choice in splitting them into teams of two: He and Logan, and Laura and Zak. The two teens were checking out an old run down and spray painted alleyway, following a scent that Laura had picked up and identified to be Ian's. However, the two didn't notice a winged figure looking down on them with lavender eyes.

It was during their search Zak simply said, "You know, Ian's mom seemed pretty worried about him." Laura nodded, "She's a nice person. I don't think Ian's gone because of that." She then turned to Zak as she asked, "Wouldn't your mother worry about you, Zak?"

"Wouldn't know, Laura…", Zak said as he turned the other way, with leaving Laura a little confused by that.

It was then that Laura was about to ask, "What do you mean by…?" But before she could finish the question, she was tackled from behind and felt something slash her back. She screamed out in pain as Zak turned around, looking worried at Laura on the ground. "Laura!", he shouted as he ran towards her, but then got tackled at the front as he saw…a girl with purple wings fly right at him.

Before Zak could do anything, she decked him one and landed on the flat of his back into a wall, slumping down. The girl disappeared as Laura got up, the claw marks on her back healing up. Seeing Zak, she ran over to him as he groaned and asked sarcastically, "Was I seeing things, or did we just get jacked by a female version of Angel…but with claws?"

Laura sniffed the air, and sensed more trouble, "There's more here; I can smell them." Zak took a whiff of his own, and grimaced, "Really? Because the only thing I smell are my clothes; which now smell like rotten Chinese takeout."

"Hey, Fellow Muties!", someone shouted as the two teens turned and ducked just in time. They jump dodged as a barrage of Electric Blue colored Kunai at them, and then exploded. Zak and Laura saw as out of a shadowed alleyway, an Asian boy dressed in a red and black battle gi was walking out with a grin, "Nice leap, eh…", he said, looking a little confused not knowing their names, but shrugged, "…well, whatever your names are."

He then brought his hands together as the Electric Blue energy, and out of the energy, he formed a pair of Chinese butterfly swords. He chuckled at them as he got into battle position, "Care to play again?" Zak had enough as his eyes lit up with fire, and his right hand lit up with fire as well. He threw it at the weirdo, but he dodged it, mocking at Zak, "HA! Ya missed!" Zak then brought his right hand back out, balled it up, and pulled it back. Then suddenly, the ball of fire he threw at the Asian, came back at his back and exploded, knocking the Asian menace flat on his stomach.

Zak smirked, "That's what happens when you don't watch your back."

Then suddenly, the wall behind Zak and Laura exploded open, forcing them flat on the ground. As they recovered, the dust settled revealing the tall and muscular Black girl. She stood tall and looked down at them, as the Asian and the winged girl surrounded them. As Zak and Laura were getting back up and recovering, the Asian formed his hands into two long Electric Blue swords and stated, "Nowhere to run, Muties…nowhere to hide."

Laura growled as she balled up her fists and brought out her claws, while Zak's eyes glowed yellow with fire and his forearms and hands were flaming ready, as he quirked, "So I'm guessing holding hands and singing Koom-bi-ya's out of the question?"

Then suddenly, a black hole opened up beneath Zak and Laura, and before the two could do anything, they were sucked in, and the hole closed up.

* * *

**Somewhere Else

* * *

**

In the area to where the mysterious mutants came from, another black hole opened up from the ceiling, and out fell Laura and Zak as the two hit the floor. The two got up, slowly moaning from the fall and the crash landing. Zak, while rubbing the back of his neck, asked, "What was that? The Twilight Express?"

Laura looked around, trying to survey where they were but only knew it was an underground subway. She sniffed around, but got nothing but foul smells as she grimaced, "This place…I don't like it." Then suddenly a voice spoke out, "Really? It serves our needs quite well."

The two teens turned sharply and saw another black hole open up; delivering the three mutants that dropkicked them, along with two other mutants. An orange haired teenager with strange feral eyes and a black creature with four tentacle-like tendrils on its back, and diamond shaped structures glowing purple on his back, shoulders, ankles, and on the back of both his hands, and even making up three eyes; resembling an alien version of Nightcrawler. The orange haired boy stepped up and bowed to them, "You can call me Radar."

Zak and Laura looked at each other and Zak asked, "And why do they call you that?" Radar smirked as he stated, "Well for example: I know you're a Pyrokinetic; Omega level. Your friend has an accelerated Healing Factor, heightened senses, and a few other talents…plus you were located in the crime district where my teammates picked you up."

But before Zak asked how he knew all that, Laura figured it out as she stated, "You can sense other mutants and their powers, as well as fix on their location." Radar nodded, "That said, allow me to introduce the others." He then pointed at the girl with the purple hair and wings as she flew up to Radar, "This is Raven." She landed next to Radar as she smirked at the two, "We've already bumped into each other."

Radar smirked as he cupped Raven's chin with his right hand, "She's our little night-angel."

Radar then pointed to the big girl with the red veins sticking out, "That's Brickhouse; the muscle of our team."

He then pointed to the Asian, "Then there's Blade." Blade smirked as he threw three Electric Blue shurikens at Laura; she brought out her claws and sliced them up as they dissipated. Blade didn't care as he cackled, "Dang, baby's got claws. HAHAHA!" Laura just growled at that, but Zak placed a hand on her shoulder to help calm her down, as Radar stated, "Blade has the ability to create light energy weapons. The deadlier, the better."

And then Radar walked up to the now crouched creature on a beat up couch, and smiled proudly as he introduced him, "And this is our latest recruit: our powerhouse and user of the Darkforce energy…Dusk." Dusk turned his head away in shame, but Radar smiled back at Laura and Zak, "He's a little shy at first, but he warms up."

Zak muttered, "Don't I know it." It was then that Laura had enough as she demanded, "Why did you kidnap us?" Radar waved his hands in defense as he stated, "We didn't kidnap…more like brought you over for a proposition." She raised an eyebrow as she asked, "What kind?"

Radar simply smirked as he said, "Join us. Join the Nightlocks, the only mutants that can survive the night." Raven brought her wings over her to form a cape of some sort and stated, "Actually, Radar's the only one who can survive out in darkness. He's pretty photo-sensitive."

Zak crossed his arms and simply said, "Good for all of you, but I think we're a little out of your species." That comment had Brickhouse walking towards them with her talking angrily, "Just because your X-Gene didn't mess you up, doesn't mean you're not a freak like us!"

But she was stopped by Raven, who calmed her down as Radar continued, "Up there, are just normal people who hate and fear us. They forced us to go underground, but we've been biding our time." He then pointed to Dusk and stated, "Take Dusk; up there, they feared him, but with us he has a home.", he smirked as he asked, "Right, Ian?" Laura and Zak looked surprised at what they called him, but saw Dusk sigh sadly at the question.

But then Radar turned back to them and asked, "So what about my offer?" it was then that Laura replied, "No thanks." Radar looked a little disappointed but smiled, "You guys just need some time to think." He then snapped his fingers, and Dusk jumped from his perch to the ground and disappeared into a Black Hole.

He then popped up from behind Zak and Laura, and pulled them into another black hole, startling them.

* * *

Up on the surface, back to where Zak and Laura were abducted, another black hole opened up, and out came Zak and Laura as they landed ungracefully face first. But Dusk just landed like an animal, but stood up again as he looked at the two teens as they got back up. But then Radar stepped out of the Black hole as he pointed to them, "Make the right choice and join us. Because I warn you here and now…if you're not with us, you'll go to the top of our list."

He then turned around, "Come on, Dusk.", and went back into the portal, with Dusk following behind. Zak and Laura got back up and ran towards the black hole, hoping to stop them, but no luck as the hole closed up. The two looked at this confusingly, even as Zak quirked, "Even Ripley wouldn't believe this."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Shadow Hopping; the Nightlocks pt. 2

* * *

****Next chapter will have more fights...I promise.**


	9. Shadow Hopping pt2

**New X-Men Academy X: The Slingers**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Shadow Hopping; the Nightlocks pt.2**

* * *

**Next Morning**

**Back on the X-Jet**

The two teens had been brought back by the two X-Men and were now currently sitting in the passenger seats. The two adults were standing before them; Scott in a serious stance while Logan's was much more laid back as he was leaning on the wall of the X-Jet with his arms crossed. So far the kids had explained that Ian was in fact a teleported… and was currently working with the wrong crowd.

But Laura wasn't too convinced by this, as she spoke on the teleported behalf, "I think he's with them because he believes he has nowhere else to go."

"There's always somewhere to belong," Scott insisted, his stern attitude never wavering, "If he's really using his powers in the usage of gangs…"

"He isn't!" Laura shouted, something that clearly was out of her character, as Zak nearly fell out of his seat from the outburst. She cleared her throat out as she explained, "I know he believes he has no choice but to be with them. It was the same when I…"

"What she's trying to say is that she's got experience when it comes to not having choices, Specks," Logan butted in, making sure Laura didn't have to dwell back to her past again. "She nearly lived out her entire childhood having others order and force her to do their choice instead of allowing her to make her own."

"So now that we found him, how do we get him out of there?" Zak asked out, snapping his fingers, with every snap causing a spark or two to go off, like a lighter.

"And next to when we do talk him out of there, what do we tell his mom and brother?" Zak asked, breaking the ice, "Hi, Miss Garnett. We found Ian, but we've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that your son's hanging around a bunch of mutant-powered gang delinquents in what appears… or smells… to be the sewers. But the good news is, he doesn't have to use the bus anymore, nor does he have to save up for a car. S'matter of fact: he's his own means of transportation."

"We'll worry about what to do later," Cyclops replied, but turned to Laura. "Do you remember anything about the place the Nightlocks had taken you to?"

"It was underground, the brick and metal were old and rusted, covered with dirt and appeared to have been abandoned for some time," Laura analyzed in great detail. "It appeared to be an abandoned subway station, judging from the appearance."

"Anything else," Logan asked further.

Zak nodded, "That, and it smelled like it could use a gallon of air freshener. Maybe twenty gallons." At that last comment, everyone just looked at him like he had just done something wrong. Each one of them giving him a glare of sorts; he wasn't fazed by it, as he shrugged, "Oh, and there was this sign up at the entrance to the place. M-I, I believe were the initials, as well as a downed monorail of sorts to where we last saw, rusting peacefully on tracks."

"Then it could be a subway terminal," Scott deduced, as he and Logan turned away from the two teenagers to talk privately, "We could start our search there."

"And where, exactly, do we start searching?" Logan butted in, "There's probably dozens of them in Chicago that're abandoned. It take a while just to sort out all the smells. On top of all that, there are probably other stations with the initials M-I. you think we've got enough time to look through all of them?"

"Maybe Laura and Zak might know something more," Scott deduced, as he turned to where the teens were. "Was there anything else you…" but stopped as they saw that their seats were empty… and that the X-Jet door was left opened. The leader of the X-Men sighed as he groaned, "Great. Now we have to find those two as well."

Logan just groaned as he rubbed his temples with a headache coming on, "This is why I don't bring children on missions."

* * *

**Back in Nightlocks Haven**

The other Nightlocks weren't present, but Blade was, as he was snoozing on an old ratty mattress. He was sprawled about, drooling at the side of his mouth like he was catatonic, and snoring loudly. In truth, this wasn't much of his finest moments. And it was being witnessed by his whole crew, whom were looking at him in an embarrassed study of gaze, while their leader, Radar, looked at him fed up. He kicked at the mattress, stirring his teammate a bit, as he spoke calmly but aggravated, "Get up, Blade."

The energy-weapon user grumbled in his sleep, turning to his side, "Just thirty more minutes, 'kay, Mommy."

Brickhouse sweat dropped at that, commenting, "Okay. I did not wanna hear that."

Radar threw it as he shouted, "GET UP!" and grabbed the mattress, pulling it up as he tossed Blade aside, waking him up, as he gave his attention to him, growling, "I won't ask you again."

"You're tense, Radar," Blade commented, with an insane smirk as he stood up, "Lemme give you a hug." however, all he got was a glare from his leader, with his yellow eyes glowing from behind his sunglasses. The Asian mutant gulped as he looked away, nervously chuckling, "Or maybe not."

"Hey," Raven spoke up, getting the attention of the others, as she looked around, "Where's Dusk?"

* * *

**In the Men's Room**

Ian Garnett, or Dusk as he was given the name by his new friends, was currently hunched over by one of the broken mirrors at the sinks. He grasped at the sides, gripping strongly, as he was making silent grunting sounds, as if he was trying to rip the sink off the wall's bolts. His three eyes were focused hard, squinting in frustration as he was hard in focus. He had asked Blade earlier on how he did what he could do, turning his power on and off. All he got was a response saying he had it made, which was obvious he was of no help. But Raven was much more understanding, saying that it was like flicking a switch on and off inside their head. So now… all he was doing at the moment, was concentrating on flipping the switch off.

"C'mon, Ian. Focus," he told himself in a strained tone, concentrating as hard as he could. Looking at himself in the mirror, he acted like he was forcing blood to go back into his head, trying to think of a switch.

But all he seemed to think of was how he looked like back then before his powers awoken. Then, as if time was reversing, the violet gems on his body began to sink back into the black body, and the shadows that made up Dusk's current body receded back inside, as Ian Garnett was restored back to his human form.

Ian's smile couldn't have been wider, as he nearly jumped back and up for joy at this, "Yes! I did it! I'm normal again!"

"You may be normal, but do you feel like you could ever belong," Radar asked, startling the happy boy as he turned around, nearly coming face to face with him.

Ian shook his head as he as almost about to step out of the place, "Look. I appreciate you hiding me and all. But I've gotta go home. My family…"

"Will never accept you when they find out you're a mutant," Radar shot out calmly, but halting the boy in his tracks. Knowing that he had struck the nerve that needed to be hit in order for the boy to stay, he decided to push it farther. "Think about it: on the news, you saw how most of our kind gets shunned by public schools, public itself… even their own families disowned them all. Looking at their children gone homo-superior like they were monsters." He reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder, getting to look up at him eye-to-eye. "Normal people can never understand us, and they never will. But we can, Ian. We're your new family now."

Ian allowed that information to sink in unhesitant, knowing full well what the boy in front of him spoke was the truth. The dark skinned boy sighed, his face dared to scrunch in sadness and agony. Though he lowered his gaze, doing his best to hide it, as he resigned to his newest fate.

* * *

**Later that Night**

Deep in the tunnels that ran under the city something moved along the darkness. It came to an old hole in the wall, it had once been one of the openings for the home of homeless people or at least it had. Now the tunnels were named the Den, once the Nightlocks had moved in. from what rumors had been told by the homeless that left, it was an unused area, now that they had a new member being a teleporter. And now, it was the quickest and less-noticeable way for two members of the X-Men to sneak in without giving away their location.

Both Scott and Logan, or rather Cyclops and Wolverine, were both suited up and ready for the worse. Scott was in a full body black suit with armored pieces on his shoulders, boots, and hips, while on his chest was a yellow X that reached to his shoulders and the end of his ribs, as it was the same on his back. His hair was exposed, but his black and ruby quartz visor was in place, with the dial on the left side should he need to fire. Logan wore his newest uniform: like Scott's it was all black, but had traces of yellow on it. His biceps were exposed, with two yellow claw marks on the shoulder sleeves, and two black gloves that went to his elbows, and on the knuckles were three metal slits for his claws to get through. His boots were black with yellow claw mark straps on the sides, with his pants being yellow spandex and with two claw marks on the sides of his quads. His mask was down and hanging on the back like a hood as he didn't have need for it right now. For now, all they were trying to do was find the hideout of the Nightlocks, and get Ian Williams out of there.

"I'll say one thing about the sewers here in Illinois," Wolverine commented as he took a sniff around, and back to Scott, "They're a whole lot better smelling than the ones back in New York."

Scott sighed in calm aggravation, as he retorted, "Logan, is this really the time to compare smells?"

Logan merely shrugged to the side as he commented, "Just pointin' out the comparison, Bub."

The two continued to make their way through the passage, unaware that a pair of new eyes, above them was watching their every move. And as the eyes moved to watch their movement, the figure opened his mouth, which split down their lower jaw, making them appear to be mandibles of sorts. And as the mouth opened,

* * *

**Not Far**

Carefully making their way down the stairwell, leading to the Nightlocks' home, were Zak and Laura, with Laura leading the way. Before Cyclops and Wolverine had left, Scott had ordered the two stowaway teens, well one stowaway, to stay on the X-Jet until they got Ian back. However, Zak was a bit on the impatient side and was about to get away, before Laura stopped him from leaving like that. Luckily, he had a backup plan and had convinced Laura to join up with him. Not that in the sense that once they found him, she could convince him to come with them, which she had zero experience in convincing someone to do what she wanted peacefully. Instead, he'd bring her along to make sure he didn't do anything stupid, and in the process, he did the same for her. That way they'd both get out of the situation in one piece.

As they made their way down the stairs with ease, Zak commented, as he nearly gagged, "I was right: this place does need a gallon of air freshener." He then looked to Laura, and asked casually, "I'm amazed that you haven't passed out from the smell. Given that you've got a more sensitive nose and a stronger sense of smell."

Laura stopped for a moment, and hunched over, silently gagging as she covered her mouth. Zak cocked an eyebrow and half-smirked as he awkwardly chuckled, "Guess you can get sick sometimes."

"This smell… is… barely tolerable," Laura commented wealky, doing her best to restore her steely composure, "It's any wonder how those Nightlocks stand to being in such a place."

It was then that Zak sighed as they both continued downward, "Because there's nowhere else for them. No family, no friends, no place where they feel they could fit in."

"It sounds like you have experience in such a thing," Laura asked.

"I do," Zak commented.

Laura looked to him and then back in front of her to keep on going. But as they continued to go down the stairs undetected, she could only guess what he had gone through. Despite his scoundrel attitude and self-charming personality, he had gone through nearly a childhood of training, isolation, as well as torture from possible handlers. It was only after his escape, his only refuge were places like this. No one would ever suspect of him to hide in places such dark and forgotten. So in a way, Zak was perhaps one of out of the two of them that understood why the Nightlocks were hiding down here in the first pace. And why Ian was hiding as well.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairwell, they crouched behind a corner to survey the area. Sure enough, it was where they were taken and where Radar was trying to recruit them into his little 'family'. And sure enough, their family was snoozing soundly in various areas, as the former Weapon X subjects were sneaking in, using their training to their advantage. Once Laura snuck behind a pillar, and Zak behind a worn out couch, they spotted the target: Ian. He was currently sitting up, curled up with his forehead resting on his arms, which were resting on his knees.

Ian was half awake and half asleep at the moment, sitting in misery at his situation, until he heard light footsteps coming towards him. Sighing, knowing full well it could have been Blade to tease him in his crazy attitude, he groaned, "Blade I'm not in the mood for your jokes or gags at this point."

"What about a proposal for a new home transfer," Zak asked, startling the new mutant.

Ian looked up, and saw both the new mutants he had ported for Radar to 'recruit', and was startled to see them. Fully awake and bug eyed, the startled black teen nearly got up as he gasped, "You two? But I thought… How did… ?"

"I tracked you by scent," Laura answered, tapping her nose, as Williams was just confused by this.

Zak knelt down next to Ian as he smirked, "Heightened senses. And no, she's not a werewolf." He then thumbed towards the exit, nodding, "Now come on, we're getting you home."

Ian nearly got up, but remembered what Radar had told him. Realizing the truth, he slunked back down, earning a few stares of confusion to the two X-students, as he stuttered a reply, and shamefully looking away from the two, "I… I can't. Radar was right: no one could ever accept me, and I can't go back to my family. Not the way I am now."

"You don't belong here, Ian," Zak insisted, being serious in this discussion, "You say you're staying here, but I can read it all plain on your face. You don't wanna stay down here, and I know you miss your family. If anything, we could take you to a school that you can learn to control your powers. Like we're learning how to." Seeing him not flinch at this, he then concluded, "And what about your family? You're just gonna leave them without even saying at least goodbye, let alone why you left? Your mom misses you, probably your brother too."

"Look at me; I'm a freak," Ian shot out, looking at both Zak and Laura with a hinted anger in his tone, until he looked away in shame, "And where I am right now, I'm not even sure I'll stay looking like this. I mean, I was barely able to switch it off; who knows when I won't be able to and be stuck like that panther-looking demon thing forever. My mom and bro, Conroy don't need to deal with that."

It was then that Laura spoke her say in this, firmly looking at him, as she pulled him to look at her and Zak, "Just becase this Radar says that, doesn't mean you have to believe him. To your mother and brother, you'll always be Ian Williams." Seeing his attention, she allowed her softer side to appear, as she pleaded him, "Don't do this to them. Your mother thought you left because of her…"

But suddenly, she was grabbed from behind by Brickhouse, who held her in a crushing bear hug. "You picked the wrong place to sneak in, Tiny," Brickhouse growled under her breath, as Laura was struggling to get free, let alone to breathe.

Zak shot up to his feet, as his eyes were ablaze, with tightened fists lighting up with flame. But two blue energy schimitars to his neck halted his advance, as Blade chuckled, "Nah-ah-ah! For once in my life, I'd love to watch ol' Brickhouse do her thang. The thing when she squeezes the life outta someone, just before she splits them in two horizontally."

"You're a sick fellah," Zak commented, powering down as he sighed, "I bet a psychiatrist had a field day analyzing you once."

"I'm pretty sure they did," Radar spoke up, walking in with Raven behind her, dragging something.

Or rather… somebody.

Being nearly cocooned in her wings, were Cyclops and Wolverine, both unconscious but stirring awake at the moment. Both Zak and Laura looked terrified at this, but tehn had their attentions turned to Radar, as Raven through the two down on the ground. "I would've expected a rescue mission from these two," he sighed, rather disappointed by this, and then to the two, "But not you guys."

"You're a horrible person, Radar," Laura shot out.

"I'm a realist, Laura," Radar replied, but then looked serious, "Like I said, up there they call us monsters, freaks, atrocities. I'm offering sanctuary from all that." He then asked the two, "So what about you two? Did you take my proposal to thought? Are you both in… or out?"

Brickhouse and Blade threw both of them on the ground, almost close to Radar's feet. As they got up, they looked to Radar, each with a defiant look in their eyes, and Zak shot out, pointing to Laura, "She might talk as much, but I speak for the both of us as our answer is this: it's you whose out. Out of your freakin' mind!"

"Wrong answer," the Nightlock leader replied, as his jaw split down and moved like mandibles.

His throat looked appeared to be some sort of organic bio-stereo amplifier. And then, he screamed, sending out humongous shockwaves, sending the two flying across the room, smashing them into the wall. The sound waves became more intense the more Radar screamed his shockwaves at the two, smashing them further into the wall. The two mutants could barely hold conscious any longer, util finally, their eyes rolled to the back of their heads, as they passed out.

With the sound waves doing the trick, Radar stopped, as the two teens fell to the floor, unconscious and out cold. Ian, who was looking horror as he stood up, nearly rushed at Radar, until Brickhouse got in his way, blockading him. "What the hell?" Ian shouted, pointing to all four of them, "Are you nuts? Those two are mutants! Like us!"

"They made their decision to stand against us," the leader replied, as his jaw returned to normal.

Ian then pointed at the two downed X-Men, "And you attacked two of the X-Men! There's more of them, and as soon as they find out about it, they'll send the others to save them!"

"Then we'll beat them all, just the five of us," Radar defended, as Blade dragged Zak and Laura, throwing them to Cyclops and Wolverine, as Radar pointed out, "We have the advantage down here; we know this place better than anyone. And we've got you, Dusk. You can port us anywhere anytime; even if they've got telepaths, they won't see you coming in time."

As Ian calmed down a bit, Raven, who was a bit weary at the moment, looked to the four knocked out mutants, and asked timidly, "So, um… what are we gonna do with them?"

Radar smirked evilly, as Ian felt an icky feeling in the pit of his stomach, as he answered, "Take a wild guess."

* * *

**An Hour Later**

As their vision was clearing up as they were regaining consciousness, the four residents of the Xavier Institute were waking up, they realized where they were hanging from. All four of them were chained up, hanging upside down, but that wasn't the worst of it. What was really worse, was what they were hanging above from. Standing on one end of the tunnel, the five Nightlocks were watching the four with mixed feelings; Raven and Dusk both being uneasy about it, while Brickhouse, Blade, and Radar seemed content with what was gonna happen. There, running from one end of a sewage tunnel, was a river of toxic waste, bubbling and sizzling, as they saw a can being kicked in by Blade. Once it hit the water, it sizzled and melted before them. None of them could guess that this was a time of panic.

"Oh great," Zak sighed, being sarcastic, "I was hoping my life would end in a vat of corrosive waste."

"You guys should have agreed to join us," Radar pointed out, crossing his arms as he sighed, "But you guys became a major disappointment. All that power, and no wills to use them against the cavemen above us. What a waste."

"Glad to know you think that," Zak shot out.

Radar looked to Blade, who morphed his right arm into a harpoon gun, taking aim of the chian holding the X-Men up. But before he fired at it, Radar stopped him from doing so, "Wait, Blade. Hold on." He then turned his gaze towards Ian, as he smirked, "Let the New Guy do it."

Ian was nearly taken aback by that, almost horrified by that suggesting. Even as Logan shouted, "Do you always let the new guy do your dirty work, Bub?"

"I think of it as his initiation," Radar commented, and looked back to Ian, "C'mon, Dusk. Show me you've got what it takes to be one of us."

"Ian! Don't do this," Cyclops replied. "He doesn't care about what you're going through! He's just using you!"

"Dusk, do it now before they threaten our very existence with their foolish false promise of equality between humans and mutants," Radar pushed on.

"He's the fool, Ian," Laura shouted. "You have a choice, Ian. You don't have to follow his way of thinking!"

"Yes, you do, Dusk," Radar warned, his jaw splitting to nearly shriek at Ian should he betray them all.

"Don't listen to him, Ian," Zak shouted. "Think about your life! Think about your family!"

Ian stood there, sweating as the several choices were nearly splitting his head open. On one hand, he could stay in the sewers with the Nightlocks, never feeling accepted back to his home, living like a thief skulking around in the sewers like an outsider. Or he could go with these people, who risked coming down here, heavily outnumbered and outmatched by these guys. But then again, what if what these X-Men were telling the truth? About helping him? And about his family?

"DO IT!" Radar shouted, getting fed up with all the distractions.

Ian shut his eyes tightly, as he was trying to come up with an answer. Finally, his eyes opened, as he looked at the two X-Men and teens now, with shadows forming over his body, as he was now transformed into his Stealth Beast Mode. "Past time I did the right thing," Ian, or Dusk, had replied.

He lifted his right hand above the four, creating a black hole on the chain, slicing it in half. The chain cut as the four were sent flying down into the toxic waste. But before they hit the sludge water, Ian hindleg ran towards them, shooting up both his hands, as another Black hole gate opened in front of him, and under the four mutants. Both fell into the holes as they closed up, leaving four Nightlocks stunned by this action, and a rather steaming up Nightlock leader.

Back in the Nightlocks' lair, a big Black Hole portal opened up on the ceiling, allowing the five mutants to go crashing on the floor in a heap. Ian got up as Logan shot his claws out, slicing through the metal chains, as they looked at Ian, who nodded, "I'll side with you guys. Besides… I don't hurt people like they do."

Freed from the chains and getting up, Logan grunted, "Good enough." it was then they heard running footsteps marching down the stairs. Both Cyclops and Logan got into battle positions as Wolverine growled, "They wanna go, then let's…"

"No, wait," Ian pleaded, stopping the two, "They have the advantage down here."

"He's right, we gotta get out of here," Zak agreed, looking around for a way out. It was then that he spotted the subway car still on the tracks, and the tracks not even blocked or buried at all. He smirked, "And that's our way out of here."

Not wanting to argue with the kids, Cyclops nodded, "Agreed. Come on!"

All five then bolted, with a grumpy Logan following after them, as they all hopped on board the downed car. Once inside, Scott ran for the controls, trying to see if he could turn it on somehow, but to no avail. He looked to the others as he stated the obvious, "There's no power or fuel available. We can't move."

"Yes we can," Zak pointed out as he ran to the end of the car. He opened the door as he stood on the back railway, as he took a stance to hold himself steady on ground. He then balled up his fists, bringing them upward, as he looked behind to the others, "Hang on!"

His fists then lit on fire, and then he shot them forward, as they roared out with tremendous fire, acting like jet engines. The blast gave the car mobilization, as it was propelled forward, going slow as it moved on the car with no problems. Then finally, it started to speed up as the car was starting to go deep into the tunnel.

The Nightlocks reached the edge of the tracks, as they all saw the car disappearing at jet speed. Radar snarled as he shouted, "Nightlocks! Get them!"

Blade transformed his right hand into a hook, and shot it forward as it stretched into a cable. Brickhouse grabbed on to him, as the two were pulled along with the track, like they were riding on skis. Raven flew overhead, grabbing Radar's hands as they took off after the other two.

* * *

**Deep in the Tunnel**

The car was going fast along the rails, carrying the five mutants as they were making their escape. The flaming jets that Zak was firing up propelled the car forward, but not powerful enough to push it or run it off the rails. For the others, they were holding on for dear life in order to make sure they didn't get thrown off the tracks. Cyclops did his best to steer with such a tremendous force pushing them all. It was all now a race to get back to the surface.

"SO!" Ian shouted as he reverted back to human form, "WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

"ANYWHERE BUT HERE, BUB!" Logan shouted above the speed they were going.

Zak did his best to keep up the speed he was shooting out of his flames and making sure he didn't go overboard. He was in such hard concentration, that he didn't notice two blurs going over his head. While inside, they heard the straining of metal being pulled apart, as they all looked above them. They saw Brickhouse and Blade as they both hopped down, with Brickhouse at the ready, and Blade creating two energy blades from his hands, preparing for battle as they charged at the X-Men.

Logan and Laura, both shot their claws out, and charged at the two. Laura went for Brickhouse as Logan charged at Blade, as the four went on an all-out brawl. Laura attempted to claw and try to disable the female muscle, but she was much more durable, as her adamantium claws couldn't penetrate her vein-covered body. Laura slashed at her double, and then brought up a roundhouse kick, bringing out her foot claw, attempting to slash at her face,. But then Brickhouse grabbed her ankle, hanging her upside down. Then, she applied pressure to Laura's ankle, as she cried out in agony.

Brickhouse huffed in disgust, "You're so weak. You don't have what it takes to be one of us."

Laura, even though she was in pain, yelled out, "Whoever said I wanted to be one of you!" and then brought up her other foot claw, kicking Brickhouse in the face as her glasses were shattered and slashed.

Brickhouse's grip was gone as Laura broke free, sheathing her claws back in. As the powerhouse mutant stumbled, Laura charged forward, delivering a barrage of punches to her. Even though she couldn't damage her, she was pushing her towards the side door. Finally, she kicked her to it, as it dented with Brickhouse gaining her sight back. Once that was done, she saw the X-Man, Cyclops, charging up his visor, and shot at her a crimson beam. It hit her directly, causing the door to smash open and sent her flying out behind.

Logan was blocking Blade's slashes as his arms were getting cut up as Blade taunted, "He slices, dices, and purees his victims to ribbons! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Logan grunted as he snarled, "Kid, you picked the wrong beast to mess with!"

He then slashed at the blades, shattering them as the young Nightlock looked in horrified surprise. The X-Man sheathed his right claws out, as he delivered a punch to Blade's right side of his face, nearly taking his head off as he produced a shield to block the Adamantium claws. Logan slashed at the shield, making claw marks in them, but didn't notice what Blade was up to next, as he formed a shotgun barrel. He fired a shot into Logan's side through a hole in the shield. The mutant staggered a bit, as his healing factor was closing up the hole as fast as it could.

But Blade formed a pair of springs on his feet, and a scythe in his hands, as he smirked, "Time to celebrate the Day of the Dead! AHAHAHAHA! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" and sprung up at Wolverine to slice him in half.

Ian saw the attack and shot out, "My turn." He brought his hands out, creating a portal in front of Logan, but only allowing Blade to go through as it closed back up.

Outside in front of Zak, who was a bit confused, a portal opened as Blade was thorwn out, rolling on the tracks. As he stopped, he sat up, chuckling dizzily, "Wild…" and then fell back down, knocked out cold as the car disappeared into the darkness.

Back on the car, the others were taking a breather from the battle, glad to know that they got out of it. But it was short lived, as a humongous blast of sound pushed them to the ground. The three were pinned to the ground, as Scott saw and got off the controls, as he aimed for the roof, knowing full well the target was up there. But suddenly, a second blast wave was shot through, knocking him into the controls. Hopping out from the hole in the roof, in front of the knocked out mutants, was Radar, with his mandibles clicking, and lifting up both his hands, which now had slits revealing booming bio-amplifier stereo mouths.

"You didn't think my mouth was the only boom box that could shoot out sounds, did you?" he asked, and then shot another sound wave, sending the three into Scott, as the sounds became more intensified. "It didn't have to be this way, Ian," Radar shook his head, "We could have used you with the Nightlocks. Including you and Wildfire, Laura. We could make this town ours with all us working together. So why attack your own kind?"

Laura snarled, "I'm not like you! I may have killed people, but I didn't enjoy it!"

"And I don't enjoy hurting people like you do," Ian shot out, as he looked to the others, "I'd rather be with them than stick around with you!"

Radar snarled, as he shrieked even louder, as he shouted, "You're all a major disappointment! For that, I'm sending you all on a one-way ticket to oblivion!"

Mustering enough strength as he could, Scott reached for his control, and shot out a crimson beam at Radar's throat. Gagging and choking, Radar clutched his throat, coughing out from lack of air. With that done, Zak who could only watch, stopped what he did, and then turned around at Radar, shouting, "Get off right now!" and then he snapped his fingers.

KA-BOOM!

An explosion shot out from under Radar's feet, sending him flying out the car's ceiling, with him screaming out loud. He fell behind the still moving car, skidding on the ground as he disappeared into the darkened tunnels. Zak looked behind at his accomplishment, and then looked to the others as they got back up. Then, he pointed to where Radar disappeared, and merely said two words, "No ticket!"

This caused Scott, Logan, and even Ian to groan aloud from that stupid joke. While Laura just looked confused at this as she asked, "What? This car's been offline for years. Why would that mutant need a ticket?"

* * *

**The Next Morning**

**Williams Residence**

Mrs. Williams, who was at the front door tearfully happy, was hugging an equally tearful Ian, as well as his younger brother, Conroy. Once escaped from the tunnels, they went back to the home, and explained the whole truth to Mrs. Willaims. Instead of rejecting him, she didn't care if he was a mutant, he was still his son, and he loved him no matter what. She was just overjoyed that he didn't leave because of the fight. His little brother, Conroy, actually thought it was cool that his brother was like a super hero, let alone going to a school that was run by superheroes. Mrs. Williams thought it was for the best, seeing as how going to the school in their hometown would have been like going into a hornet's nest. And so, at that moment, Ian was saying his goodbyes to them, and taking with him a duffel bag and backpack as they hugged each other, and Ian walked with the four mutants standing outside, with the X-Jet parked not too far away.

As he joined up with them, Ian asked, "So anything I need to know when I'm there?"

"Only that you'll be bunking with another student," Logan pointed out, but then half-smirked, "And later on, I'll be teaching a class on Survival Training."

Ian gulped at that, paling at that kind of training with this kidn of guy. But then he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder, turning towards Laura, who replied, "It's not as bad as you think."

"I hope not," Ian gulped.

They all boarded on the X-Jet, as Ian gave one last wave goodbye to his mother and brother. The last ones to enter were Zak and Scott, as Zak went up first. But then suddenly, he was stopped by Scott, as he placed a hand on his shoulder, and spoke up, "Zak. Even though you stowed away on this little mission, I just wanted to say… you did a pretty good job down there," Scott congratulated both Zak, nodding to him. The redheaded pyrokinetic smiled at that little praise from the headmaster of the Institute. But he sternly mentioned, "But that still doesn't get you out of detention, Walker." And walked past him as he stepped aboard the ship.

Zak sighed in annoyance as his shoulders slouched, groaning, "Should've known better that you don't get a free lunch."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Cat-Girl-Do; Wounds Open from the Past**

* * *

**Sorry for the late update folks, but I've been stumped on this. Not knowing where to take this story. And also sorry for no profile on Ian Williams. That'll come in the next chapter.**


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